


The Light in the Center of their Universe

by TheAnnoynomousWriter



Series: The Light in the Center of Their Universe [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Because love takes time, Canon-Typical Violence, Comedy, Crush at First Sight, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Kimi no Na wa. | Your Name. References, My First Work in This Fandom, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, Tags Are Fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-18 10:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 123,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21509746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnnoynomousWriter/pseuds/TheAnnoynomousWriter
Summary: She didn't expect to end up on Earth, but the Kraang didn't give her a choice. After being kidnapped and captured, she ended up in a facility where a redhead and her father were kept. She was rescued by a group of mutants and given a new name. With no way to return, will she find a place in their home and their lives?
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT), Leonardo (TMNT)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Light in the Center of Their Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581019
Kudos: 17





	1. The Death of a Light

**? POV**

"Wow…" I couldn't help but gasp. The milky way, a system so far from home, yet so beautiful in its own rights. I've always admired this system ever since I found out about it, something about it entranced me. Now that I was here, I felt so excited and a little nervous.

What if it wasn't everything I dreamed it would be? And what if it was?

I heard my mother calling me and walked away from the observation desk. My class and I were on a field trip to the Milky way, a little celebration for the newest graduating cluster of Lightfuries. For most of us, this was the furthest we've ever traveled from our home. Because of this, we needed to have chaperones along with us to protect us in case anything happens. My mother and father were one of many parents who make up the crew guarding the ship.

"My spark, why do you always wander away from the group?" My mother sighed.

"I can't help it, I'm so excited to finally see it." My skin was probably glowing from excitement.

My mother must have noticed. She just smiled fondly. "I know, but we must head back with the others."

I groaned but followed my mother back to the group. Just as the ship was struck and an alarm went off, my mother held me in her arms to protect me from the shock. Then, like any other Lightfury, she stood tall with the face and demeanor of a warrior.

"We're under attack, do you have your weapons with you?" She asked.

I nodded, checking for the uni-weapon I have in my belt.

"Head back to the main chamber and stay with the others. Do not engage and remember your training." She commanded before turning back and looking at me with a soft gaze, "Stay safe, my spark."

I started to run back to the main chamber, only to see two weird androids with brain-like aliens inside them. Immediately, I knew what attacked our ship.

"Kraang, it is one of which is known as a Lightfury." One of the Kraang said.

"You will halt for which will be beneficial to both Kraang and the one known as the Lightfury. Doing what is known as surrendering will allow Kraang to spare the life of the Lightfury for further research." The other one commanded in a monotone voice and pointed his gun at me.

"I don't think so." I dodged out of their range of fire, activating my uni-weapon into a whip. I tripped one of them and sliced the head of the other robot down before running down the hall.

"Kraang, destroy for Kraang." I heard them shout, but I didn't look back.

More started showing up and I was forced to turn away from the main chamber. Without a choice, I started running down a different way. I needed to get to the main chamber before they capture me. I hid in a small closet while they run by the door. It was then I realized the chaos that was echoing throughout the ship. Screams and the clanking sounds of robots falling to the ground. I was shook to my core when I could feel Lightfuries getting taken out too, one after another. Another explosion rocked the ship and I could hear even more heavy metal footsteps.

We were getting overwhelmed. I needed to find my parents and escape the ship before we all get blown up. I took a moment to calm my nerves and took in my surroundings. I noticed the air vent above me and use my whip to open it. I climbed the shelves and pulled myself up into the air ducts. I started crawling in the narrow vents to the center of the ship, keeping myself as quiet as I can. Through both skill and sheer luck, I made it to the main chamber, and I was horrified by what I saw. I saw my fellow Lightfuries from my cluster, all of them died on the deck of the ship. There were no guardians left standing. Weapons, green slime, and blood coated the floor and the bits of walls I can see. What I could see were Kraang walking around the bodies of my friends, but not in the way that looked like they're in combat. It was the relaxed kind of posture someone would have when they felt they've won the battle.

I was outraged, everyone was gone. I screamed and jumped out of my hiding spot. My uni-weapon was now a sword, and it sliced straight through the Kraang I landed on. Blinded by everything else, I started attacking every Kraang that came at me. But more kept marching in, three more appeared for every one Kraang I struck down. I knew I wasn't going to win this, but nothing mattered to me other than avenging everyone they killed.

An idea then popped into my head, a stupid reckless one. But it was one that would kill everyone on this ship and that was enough for me.

I started charging my power, letting it overwhelm me. The Kraang seemed afraid of me as the air around me started to cackle with sparks and electrons. My parents always warned me to never let myself overload on energy or I would go supernova. But then again, they weren't here to stop me.

Just before I could anything, I felt something hit me. A beam that was draining my energy away from me, I turned to see one Kraang holding this energy draining weapon. I rushed at him, only to be tied down. They used their own plasma whips, much like my own, to restrain my arms and legs. Unable to move, I was drained by the machine till I collapsed and could do nothing more.

"Kraang will take this one for further examination. The power of the Lightfury could prove useful to Kraang. Prepare to return to Earth." It was the last thing I heard before I felt them dragging me away on the ground and I blacked out.

* * *

I've lost track on time since the attack on my ship. The Kraang took away my weapons, they've probably taken it apart by now. The one thing I have left was the universal translator on my neck, but even then it didn't make it without a scratch. I could still understand them, but I couldn't say anything back. My speech was reduced to Lightfurian clicks and noises. Not that great when youe were on a planet that didn't understand it. From what I've gathered, they brought me to a planet named Earth for researching purposes. I was locked into a holding cell while they used that gun to drain power from me, leaving only enough to keep me stable. They were trying to see if I could be some kind of replacement power source, but my energy wasn't enough. Now that I was useless to them, they wanted to experiment on me.

I wished I could say I fought back every single time they showed their disgusting faces in my cell, but I lost any will to escape after the sixth time they blasted me with that gun and locked my hands up with draining handcuffs after my second escape attempt. There was no way to escape and no one was there to help me.

That was when I heard new voices, a girl who sounded just as unhappy of being here as I was. I walked up to the door of my cell and saw some Kraang putting a girl with red hair who looks about my age and an older looking man with the same color of hair on his face, he must be her father.

The girl kept screaming at the Kraang to let them out but the Kraang couldn't be bothered with her. The girl glared angrily at them, just like I did when I first arrived. She then noticed me and her angry gaze turned into one of confusion.

"Hello? Did they capture you too?" She asked.

Unable to speak, I just nodded and hoped that it means yes on this planet as well.

I think she understood since she just continued, "I'm sorry to hear that. My name is April, what's yours?"

I wished I could tell her but she couldn't understand anything I say until I can fix my translator.

"You can't speak?"

I noded again, and the look of understanding did confirm to me that nodding meant yes in this world too. Maybe it wouldn't be too different after all.

"Are your parents with you too?"

It pained me to hear any mention of my parents. Seeing her captured with her father made me wished that my mother was still by my side. I shook my head, and she understood.

"April? Who are you talking to?" I heard a deeper masculine voice while April turned around to see into her cell. That must be her father.

"There's another girl in here too, dad. I think she's mute." April explained

Mute? I guess that was what being unable to speak was called here.

"Do you know why these things captured us?" April asked. She must mean the Kraang.

I shook my head. While I knew why they captured me, I had no idea why April and her father were here.

That answer didn't satisfy April, she looked frustrated and walked away from the door. I looked away, feeling guilty that I couldn't give her a better answer. I wished I could talk to them, if nothing else, to give them an idea of what the Kraang are.

Suddenly I heard April crying out from her cell, "Oh my stomach! The pain is unbearable!"

I looked up to see a Kraang entering their cell and April attacking it, by pulling and biting on it…

I knew better but I couldn't help the disappointment I felt when their weird escape plan failed. I sighed and leaned against my cell door. The motion felt awkward with my handcuffs, drawing my attention to them. I scowled at these stupid things on my wrists, what I wouldn't give to be out of these things.

Not long after April and her father arrive, I heard the alarm going off. It made me jump and soon there were more new voices and one talking with April. I looked up out my cell door and I couldn't even describe what I felt when I saw these new people.

First of all, they looked nothing like April and her father, humans, which I was taught was the dominant species on this planet. They seemed to act and talk like humans, despite their odd appearances.

Secondly, they seemed to be fighting the Kraang. I hoped that meant there were forces here that were powerful enough to stop them. I couldn't help but admire the way they fight, it was powerful and swift. Something I didn't think was possible with their forms.

Lastly, they seemed to be here for April. One of them, a creature with something purple on his face, immediately rushed over to April's cell and was trying to open it from what I could hear.

"Don't worry, I'll have you out of there in a second." The creature in purple said as he opened the control panel for their cell.

"Okay, giant lizard thing." April answered, sounding just as confused as I felt.

"Turtle, actually," The turtle corrected her, "I'm Donatello."

"April." She replied.

"Wow, that's a pretty-" Donatello sounded mesmerized, until another turtle in blue bumped into him.

"The lock, Donnie!" The turtle in blue exasperated.

"Oh right, yeah. Sorry." Donatello apologized as he went back to fiddling with the panel.

The turtle in blue looked into April's cell, and spoke in the most reassuring tone I've ever heard, "We're going to get you out of here. Just hang on."

"Wait! There's another girl in here." April exclaimed.

* * *

**Leo's POV**

"What?" I looked back at the redhead.

"Yeah, she's right across from us." She pointed behind me.

I looked over and sure enough, there was another cell and there was someone else locked in there. I turn back to her. "Don't worry. We'll get her out once Donnie's done with your door."

I saw a Kraang coming at us, I kick it away from Donnie and jumped back into the fight. Now that we knew they're alien robots, we were not holding back as much. Raph seemed to enjoy it a lot more now that he didn't have to care about hurting their robot bodies. Mikey was just riding the high of being right, thankfully that extra energy meant he's jumping all around the place and smacking Kraang with his nunchucks. We were running out of time, the longer we stayed here the more likely they were going to outnumber us.

"For the love of -, get out of my way!" Raph finally got tired of Donnie and just pushed him aside. He started stabbing at the circuits and wires with his sai. Somehow it worked and the doors opened just as April and her father were taken away.

"They got her!" Donnie shouted as he ran after them.

"Wait! Donnie!" I called out but Donnie didn't turn back, leaving us to rescue the other girl.

"Raph, we need to open this one too."

"Don't worry bros, I got this." Mikey grinned as he started mashing random buttons on the panel.

"Mikey!" Raph and I exclaimed.

But to my surprise once again, the door opens to reveal a girl on the floor who looks about the redhead's age. Her skin was extremely pale, almost glowing. Her light beige hair was in a messy braid that falls off her left shoulder. Her biggest feature that caught my attention was her bright expressive eyes, they were grey, more like silver actually. This girl looked so exotic that I couldn't help but stare at her. Those silver eyes widen as she looked at us. However, she didn't seem scared of us. She looked like she was shocked to see us, she probably thought we'd leave her behind.

The thought made my heart ache in a way I never thought I'd have for a stranger, she looked at me like I just changed her world. How could the world just abandon someone like her?

"Miss, we're getting you out of here." I reached out to her with my hand, only to notice the handcuffs on her, as well as the metal ring on her neck. She wasn't said a word yet, but I could see the conflict in her eyes: disbelief, doubt, then a look of absolute trust that knocked me off my metaphorical feet. I helped her up on her feet as Raph and Mikey approached us.

"Woah, what's that?" Mikey poked over my shoulder, looking curiously at the handcuffs on her.

There was no time for answers. We heard the Kraang rushing towards us, in numbers.

"Guys, we gotta go!" I picked the girl up and we all run out into the hallway Donnie ran down, catching up with him. The Kraang were hot on our tails when we saw a door at the end. We all but crashed through the door with the Kraang right behind us.

"Get the door!" I shouted, out of breath and panicked. Raph managed to push the door shut, just as a Kraang robot was reaching through the space in between. In a sick move, Raph grabbed his arm and slammed down onto it, breaking the robot's arm off before kicking the rest of the bot back. He then used the arm to barricade the door, which was holding up better than I dared to imagine.

"That'll hold 'em." He said with confidence as he turned around to us.

He seemed confused when we all just looked at him without a word, "What?" He asked.

I still couldn't get over what just happened and neither did any of my little brothers. "You. Are seriously twisted." I stated outright.

"Thanks." He grinned, knowing exactly what I meant. I just rolled my eyes in exasperation.

"NO!" We looked up to see the Kraang dragging the redhead and her father on the rooftop, heading towards a helicopter.

We ran over to help, only to be stopped by a loud stomp. We looked on in horror when we saw that it came from the legs of a giant plant mutant. It had thorny vines all over its body with his heart in the center, its head looked like a praying mantis's complete with being unnerving yellow eyes protruding from the sides of his face. It had vine arms too with crab-like pinchers at the end of them.

"Uh oh" Mikey exclaimed.

"You did this to me! Now you're gonna pay!" The mutant shouted angrily.

"Guys, it's Snake!" I started backing away once I recognized him. "He mutated into a… giant weed!" I felt something shaking and moving closer to my plastron. I remembered the girl I have in my arms and tightened my grip ever so slightly in a protective manner.

"That's weird. You'd think he'd get mutated into a snake." Mikey commented in confusion.

"Yeah, you would, if you were an idiot." Raph snapped back.

"But his name is Snake." Mikey remarked like that explained everything.

"So?"

"You don't understand science." Mikey shrugged his shoulders, like Raph was the crazy one.

Snake wasn't happy being ignored, "I'll crush you turtles!" He declared angrily.

"Uh, would it help if we said it was an accident?" Donnie asked nervously, to which Snake just swings his pincer arms at us.

"So, heh, I'll put you down for a no?" Donnie stuttered before dodging another attack. Snake's attack knocked Mikey onto the ground. I took advantage and leaped into the air, slicing down onto his arm without dropping the girl I'm carrying. She winced as purple fluid startss spewing from Snake's severed vine.

"Eww! Eww! Don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!" Mikey panicked as he inched away from the purple fluid, which meant he got some on himself and started whining. "Aah! It touched me! Ahh."

I put the girl down near the corner of the building. "Stay here, don't be seen."

She hasn't said a word yet, but her eyes told me everything. She's still scared, but also worried and a little angry. However, it seemed like she was going to do what I said.

With the girl now hidden away, I jump back into the action.

* * *

**? POV**

I didn't know what just happened. One moment I was in my cell, defeated that my last chance at escaping this place had left to go after April. The next I was rescued by the turtle in blue and outside for the first time, also there was a giant green monster attacking the turtles. Donatello or Donnie, as the other turtles call him, had gone after April while the others were battling the creature and the Kraang. I found myself frustrated again, I'm a Lightfury for Solar's sake! I'm a warrior and I won't let them fight my battles for me. A fire that I thought the Kraang had snuffed out burned with passion.

Suddenly I had an idea, one just as reckless and crazy as letting myself go supernova. But it does seem doable. With nothing left to lose, I run out into the fight and get in front of a Kraang just as he was about to shoot at one of the turtles. I hold my arms up in front of the blaster and prayed that it would work like I hoped it would. Thankfully I still had my arms and the blast shot the center of my handcuffs, breaking them in half as I planned.

Finally! I could fight again. With a smirk, I took down the Kraang right in front of me with a high kick and I took the blaster that he dropped.

Remember your training, my mother's words rang in my ears as I started shooting at the Kraang. The turtle in orange, Mikey I heard them call him, surprised and looked at me, I smiled and nodded at him before turning back to the battle. "Alright! We got this, Leo." Mikey exclaimed. The one in blue looked over and noticed me. He looked worried before returning his focus. "Raph and I will take down Snakeweed, you guys keep them busy."

Raph must be the turtle in red and the one in blue was Leo.

The creature they called Snakeweed didn't seem happy with the turtles and the Kraang attacking him. With a screech and a single sweep with his arm, he knocked us all down onto the ground. Raph called out to Leo, "What's the plan, chief?"

"I'm working on it." Leo exclaimed before he was pulled into the air by Snakeweed, hanging upside down by his leg. In the moment, he dropped one of his swords and it landed next to me. He screamed as Snakeweed thrashed him around in the air. He noticed something and shouted to his companions, "The power conduits!"

Raph seemed frustrated by the statement, "Are we really gonna start talking about that again?"

Leo, who I now realized was the leader, called out to the other two, "Raph! Mikey!" He then started doing some motions with his hands that I didn't understand. Luckily, I didn't have to as the other two went behind Snakeweed and cut at his legs, while Leo used his remaining sword to cut himself down. I picked up his sword and started to fight with it. It wasn't like any sword I've used before and I keep expecting it to change when I needed it to, like my uni-weapon. Nonetheless, I defended myself well enough with it.

Just as I was ready to block another attack, Snakeweed was hit with something from behind. It turned out to be Leo who threw some kind of weirdly shaped metal knives at him. "Hey, come and get me Stinkweed." He mocked and made a really silly face. He kept taunting both Snakeweed and the Kraang by slapping his back and I couldn't help but laugh a little.

Snakeweed took the bait and attacked Leo, who jumped out of the way just as the Kraang shot at the power generator he was standing on. It shocked Snakeweed who was touching it and caused him to explode. The explosion took out most of the Kraang while we were coated with bits of plant flesh. I cringed as I tried avoiding it as much as I could. Donatello showed up with April and we were all alive. The battle was over and I felt myself relaxing for the first time since I came to Earth.

"Let's go, guys." Leo said. I smiled and handed his sword back to him. I was finally free from the Kraang. Walking never felt so good!

* * *

We escaped the facility with our lives. Once we were sure the Kraang weren't chasing us, we slowed down our pace as we headed to the city. "So we never got to talk." Leo broke the silence, "My name's Leonardo or Leo. These are my brothers." He gestured to the other three beside him.

"Name's Raph." Raph grunted.

"April already knows me. I'm Donatello, but please call me Donnie." Donnie introduced himself. I couldn't help but notice the look of adoration Donnie had on his face when he mentioned April.

Mikey had a big cheeky grin as he struck a pose, "And my name is Mikey D, the mighty all powerful- Oww!" His introduction was cut off after Raph slapped him on the back of his head.

"MIKEY!" The three of them groaned.

Leo had his hand on his face with a pained expression, "His name's Mikey, or Michelangelo."

"I'm April O' Neil." April introduced herself, then all eyes were looking at me. April noticed and spoke on my behalf, "And umm… I don't think she can talk."

"That's weird." Leo commented before looking at my translator, "Is this thing stopping you from talking?"

I shook my head frantically and shielded my neck with my hands. I couldn't let them take it from me.

Donnie must've noticed my behavior and made a deduction, "I think it's what lets her talk."

I nodded just as frantically, happy that someone understood me.

"Must be broken." Donnie pointed out, "We can head down to the lair and I might be able to fix it."

I brightened at the idea. I'd get to talk again and properly thank my saviors, especially Leonardo.

However, Raph was not happy with it, and he made sure we all knew, "What? We can't take her down there! Why doesn't you just take the thing and bring it back to her when you're done?"

Donnie just shot him a look then asked Raph, "Do you honestly think you can get it away from her?"

Raph looked over to me and I wasted no time glaring at him, my hand still on my translator. It wasn't smart but I was daring him to try and rip it off my neck.

Raph looked like he was actually going to do it before Leo stepped in to cut the tension, "We can settle this later. Do you girls have somewhere you can go?"

"My aunt's in New York so I can go live with her for a while." April answered, giving them the address.

I shook my head, there was no place for me to go. I didn't even know what to do now.

The turtles looked surprised and somber, especially Mikey whose expression turned into one of sympathy. "You have nowhere to go? What about your family?" He asked with an innocent tone.

I shook my head again, much slower as I felt tears forming. I missed them so much.

The turtles looked at each other nervously, like they didn't know what to do. I just must look ridiculous to them.

Mikey suddenly jumped up with a wide grin, "Dudes, I just had the best idea! She can stay with us!"

He looked at his brothers proudly, like he just solved the hardest problem in the world. I wished I could say his brothers reacted the same way.

Leo and Donnie shouted, "What?!"

"Mikey, are you crazy?" Raph looked like he was about to beat Mikey again.

Mikey put his hands up as if that would protect him against his brother, "Look, the Kraang and her obviously don't get along. What if she gets kidnapped again? Besides, where else could she go?"

Donnie shared a look with Leo before conceding, "Mikey does have a point…"

"Donnie, you can't be serious. She was in handcuffs," Raph pointed to the broken handcuffs that were still on my wrists, "you guys saw the way she fights!"

"Exactly, whatever the Kraang want with her can't be good. It's safer if she's with us." Donnie refuted.

"Let's just head back to the lair. We can talk about this after she can actually talk to us and let her say something about this." Leo stepped in once again between Donnie and Raph.

I smiled at him again, grateful for his words and everything he's done for me so far. I never thought I'd trust someone on this planet so easily after the Kraang, but something about Leo comforted me and softened any doubts I had. I trusted him with my life.

"I can't believe this. Have fun explaining this to Splinter." Raph crossed his arms, ending the entire argument.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence as we got April to her aunt's apartment. She went into the building while the rest of us waiting on a metal structure attached to the building. The turtles called it a fire escape. April soon met us by the window, "My aunt said I could stay here as long as I need."

"Do you mind if we could back tomorrow to check on you?" Leo asked.

"Not at all. Thanks for saving me." April answered, but all of us could see the sorrow in her eyes.

Donnie saw this and spoke up, "April, we'll get your dad back too. I promise."

"We will?" Raph questioned his brothers skeptically.

"Yes." Donnie shot a look at Raph before replying with determination, "We will."

April appreciated it and we left the building. I tried to keep up with them, but the gravity here was weird. I couldn't run as fast as I used to or jump as far. Leo noticed this and picked me up again for the rest of the way. I ignored the feeling of helplessness that being on this planet gave me in favor of the sense of security being around Leo gave me.

We soon arrived in a branch of the city in between two buildings, I looked around puzzled before Raph picked up a metal plate that was on the ground. He moved it to reveal a hole with an odd smell coming from it.

"I know it looks weird, but this is home to us." Leo said before entering the hole.

The others waited for me to go in before the rest followed. Raph covered up the hole again and we were now in an odd tunnel. I was perplexed beyond my mind and I looked to them for answers.

"You'd get used to the smell eventually." Mikey just said nonchalantly. "Like Leo said, the sewer's our home."

So this place was called the sewers. I just started look around at everything, the long stretching tunnels, the endless numbers of openings, and the little creatures that scutter between the cracks. Mikey was helpful, explaining more about their home and warning me when I was about to step on a rat or a cockroach, the last one seemed to unnerve Raph every time one came near us.

After a while of walking, Leo stopped all of us and turned to me.

"Here." He handed me a piece of cloth like theirs but there were no holes on it.

He looked sheepish as he explained, "Sorry, but we need to keep the lair a secret. It's only going to be a while and we'll be with you all the way." Leo looked at me in the eyes again, the same way he did when he first spoke to me. I found myself trusting him just like before. That was when I knew what he was to me.

He was my guardian.

I nodded and allowed him to tie the cloth around my eyes. It was strange and a little intimidating, losing two of my senses and relying on someone so much without being able to do otherwise. Leo kept his word, his hand was holding mine like he did when I was in his arms, strong and reassuring as he guided me to safety.

"We're here." I heard Leo say, he untied the cloth and I can honestly say I didn't expect what I saw. The wide spacious room we were in had machines around the space and items all over the floor, it looked messy and lived in. It reminded me of my old room back home, I was never one to keep my room clean either.

"Come on, the lab's this way." Donnie led me to a set of doors on the left. We walked in and I could tell this was the lab he mentioned. The tools in there weren't as advanced as I was used to, but a tool was a tool. Donnie suggested I removed the broken cuffs from my wrists first. Taking them off was easy once you had a laser to cut through them. After that, I fixed my translator. I almost laughed at how simple it was, just a couple of wires and circuit boards that got knocked loose in the tussle.

I put the translator back on and turned to Donnie, who was watching beside me, "Thank you so much, Donatello."

His eyes widened and he grinned. He seemed just as happy as I did that it worked.

Just then, Mikey popped his head in, "Hey Donnie, did you get her voice thing working again?"

"Yes. It's fixed." I laughed at his shocked face, "Hello Michelangelo."

"Dude that's so cool, call me Mikey!" He beamed. He reminded me of a newborn star with the light he had.

"Ok, Mikey." I laughed again, I couldn't help but match his joy.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Donnie asked.

That got Mikey to focus on what he came in for, "Oh yeah, Master Splinter wanted to see all of us."

The three of us walked out of the lab to see Leo and Raph beside another giant creature. It looked like one of those rat creature I passed by on the way here, but he was much bigger and he was clearly as intelligent as any other human.

"You must be the girl my sons mentioned. My name is Hamato Yoshi, but you may call me Master Splinter." Master Splinter said with a welcoming but stern tone, as if he wanted to make sure I was not going to be a threat to his family.

I noticed that Donnie and Mikey have lowered themselves in front of their father, so I matched them and bowed, "Yes. Your sons saved me and I am very grateful for that."

Leo and Raph seemed surprised to hear my voice, but Raph recovered and asked, "What do the Kraang want with you anyways?"

"Raphael." Master Splinter scolded him.

"Please, it's fine Master Splinter." I said, "I owe you my story for all of this and your trust."

* * *

**Leo's POV**

The girl's voice was softer than I expected. It was soothing like a singer's voice.

"First of all, I'm not human. I am a Lightfury. We are a race of energy beings that live in Nebula 74, a place far beyond your galaxy." She explained.

That first statement alone was enough to break our minds.

"You're… an alien?" Donnie stuttered.

We were all a little apprehensive, she looked so human if not for her silver eyes and her near translucent pale skin. I knew deep down that she can be trusted, but the only aliens we've met so far were the Kraang. We never considered that there could be others just hovering above our heads. My head was buzzing with the idea that we had an alien in our homes and on our side.

"Yes. I came to the Milky Way on a field trip with my cluster. But our ship was attacked by the Kraang." Her soothing voice turned hard and pained as she continued, "They slaughtered everyone on the ship, my fellow Lightfuries, all the guardians and chaperones including my parents. They captured me after they shot me with a beam that drained my energy. They took me here and they were draining my power for something. My energy wasn't enough for what they wanted so they planned to experiment on me instead. That's when you four came in and saved me."

We all didn't know what to say. She was basically taken from her kind after the Kraang killed her friends and family. Just when we thought the Kraang was bad for kidnapping innocents.

Raph didn't buy her story, "Are we really supposed to believe this?"

"Well Mikey did find a brain alien, and we were mutated from an alien substance. It would make sense that there are more aliens in the universe." Donnie came to her defense, which she appreciated.

Raph accepted reluctantly, crossing his arms like a child. I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"So what does that metal ring on your neck do?" I asked her. I was curious why she was so protective of it earlier.

"It's a universal translator. It allows me to understand you as much as it lets you understand me. So if I took it off…" With the translator off her neck, her words turn into a series of clicks and pitched noises, sounds I didn't expect to come out of someone who looks so human. She puts the translator back on, having proved her point.

"That explains why you didn't say anything." I nodded and she giggled at that. I couldn't help but smile with her.

"So do you have a name? We've told you ours." Raph said impatiently and breaking the moment. Master Splinter looked like he was going to scold Raph again.

"Well yes, but I don't think you can pronounce it." She then made a series of chirps that I think were supposed to be her name. Raph didn't say anything else after that.

"I know! We can give you one. I'm awesome at naming things." Mikey puffed his plastron with pride, "Well, you're a Lightfury and your skin's all glowy, why don't we call you Light?"

"Michelangelo, do not be rude to our guest." Splinter reprimanded him.

"It's fine, Master Splinter. But Light doesn't feel right." She answered honestly. I agreed in my head. Calling this unique girl something like Light didn't quite fit.

"Hmm. It's true that you would need a name." Master Splinter pondered, "What do you think of Hikari?"

"Hikari?" She looked at Splinter in confusion.

"It is a Japanese name, it means radiant light." He explained.

"Hikari…" She tested the name before a sincere smile appeared on her face, "I like it."

Master Splinter gave her a warm smile in return. "Very well, Hikari. We welcome you to our home. Stay as long as you need to, if you choose so."

"If you all will have me. Thank you so much." Hikari thanked Splinter and I could feel the many overwhelming emotions she had right now. More than anything, she was relieved. I guess she really was scared that we'd leave her to fend for herself.

Mikey gave her a big hug which surprised her but reciprocated all the same. He wanted to show her around the lair, but she admitted that she was tired. We all were after an adventure like that. We all brought her over to where the bedrooms were and let her stay in one of our empty rooms, it really didn't have anything besides a lamp hanging from the ceiling. Hikari didn't care and thanked us. Master Splinter told Raph and Donnie to get some pillows and a spare futon the four of us used when we were little. Mikey was sent off to bed whining, saying good night to her before heading to his own room across the hall.

Hikari and I were alone in her room when she spoke to me, "Thank you."

She looked at me with the same look of awe in her eyes she had when we first met. I could feel my cold skin heating up, "It's just a room."

"Not just for that. You saved me in ways you didn't know." She said it with so much emotion that I just stared at her.

My heart started pounding against my plastron. Her gaze, her words, they're all sending a message I understand but I couldn't begin to even comprehend. After all the chaos that happened, I could finally admire her beauty in this little bubble of ours, this mysterious and enchanting part of the cosmos that entered our lives. I felt myself getting lost in her ever-expressive eyes. Sensei told me that you can learn a lot about someone through their eyes. In Hikari's, I could see pain, lost, strength, and something else… something softer that drew me closer to her.

I heard someone clearing their throat and I snapped out of our moment. I saw Raph and Donnie with the futon and pillows, both with smirks on their faces. I just realized how close I was to Hikari and stepped back.

I was sure my face was bright red but I tried regaining some semblance of control and dignity in front of my brothers. "Looks like you've got everything you need, we'll let you get some rest. Come on guys."

"You sure you don't wanna stay and help, Leo?" Raph teased.

Whatever control I had was slipping as I glared at Raph, not that it did anything if that smug look on his face or snickers coming from Donnie proved anything.

"I'll be fine." Hikari said, "I was just thanking Leo for what you all did."

Raph finally let his guard down in front of Hikari, "You thanked us enough, princess."

"Get some sleep. We'll see you tomorrow." Donnie said as he and Raph walked out the door.

Before I leave, I turned back to see Hikari setting up the futon. "Good night, Hikari."

"Good night, Leo." She nodded.

I walked out of her room to my brothers' knowing grins. I said nothing and head for my room, ignoring the sound of their howling laughter. Luckily, I heard Master Splinter scolding them for making so much noise from my closed door. I collapsed onto my bed, allowing myself to relax under the feeling from that warm silver light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished watching the 2012 TMNT series and I fell in love with the kinds of stories the fandom has created. One of my favorites is "I Meet the Turtles", so I decided to create my own version. It didn't help that both the writer and I had the same favorite turtle (Leo is such a lovable gem). My main goal in this is to make an OC centered story that doesn't make the OC feel like a Mary Sue, so wish me luck on that.
> 
> Yes I am aware that the term Lightfury comes from HTTYD. Frankly, I think it fits Hikari's race better and they should have just called the dragon a Nightfury too since they're the same type of dragons. Lightfuries in this world are pretty much human physically except they have another form that I will get into in the next chapter.
> 
> I'm excited to hear if you have any feedback, this is my first story and I could use all the help I can get.


	2. The Rebirth of Hikari

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place the morning after the first chapter.

Hikari woke up in a blur, briefly surprised that she could move her arms at will. She soon looked around and remembered what happened yesterday. She was rescued from the Kraang facility by four turtle brothers. She did her best to tidy the futon, not that she really knew what she was doing before heading to the bathroom. Donnie left some items at her door, things that were familiar enough to her: toothbrush and toothpaste, a towel, and half-empty bottles of soap and shampoo.

The bathroom was vacant and she tidied herself up for the day. Without any other clothes to wear, she had no choice but to continue wearing her old uniform from her capture. Satisfied, she put her things away and walked over the main area, which Mikey and the other called the pit.

She noticed Mikey and Leo already in the kitchen. Mikey was cooking while Leo was drinking his tea on the island counter they eat at. They noticed her too as she came over to them.

"Morning, Hikari. How's your first night in the lair?" Mikey called out from the fridge.

"It's weird, not waking up in a cell." She answered warily as she took a seat next to Leo.

Leo tensed a little, being so close to her after what happened last night. He calmed himself down before Hikari noticed anything, "Well you're safe from the Kraang down here. They won't find us."

Those words helped ease her and she smiled appreciatively, "Thank you, Leo."

Leo blushed again, not used to being thanked so often especially by a girl who kept lingering in his mind. He went back to drinking his tea, with Hikari being none the wiser.

Raph and Donnie soon joined them, both of them wearing Cheshire grin when they saw Hikari and Leo sitting together. Leo glared at them while Hikari looked confused as to why they looked so happy all of a sudden.

"I hope you all like eggs, we found some nice stuff in the back of the store today. They're barely passed the expiration date." Mikey exclaimed as he pulled out a paper bag from the fridge. No one understood why Mikey just stuffed the entire bag into the fridge instead of just putting the food in there.

"What are eggs?" Hikari cocked her head to the side.

Mikey gasped in horror, "Dude. You've never had eggs? What did you eat?"

"Nothing, they didn't really feed me when I was captured." Now all four brothers were looking at Hikari with muted horror at the mistreatment she suffered.

Hikari noticed their horrified expressions and was quick to reassure them, "We didn't need to eat. Our energy comes from the nebula, so we draw power from the solar energy around us."

This placated them while Donnie became interested in her biology, "You don't eat? Fascinating."

"I can eat, I just don't need to." She stated.

"But eating is like half the fun of living!" Mikey cried dramatically. He threw himself onto the island counter, much to his brother's annoyance. He pulled himself right in front of her, stared at her with his hands on her shoulders and a look of determination she hadn't seen from him before, "I need to show you everything. And PIZZA! We should get some pizza for her to try!" He turns to his brother with his body still on the counter.

Hikari couldn't hold back her laughter after seeing Mikey's enthusiasm, "I'll try some Earth food if it makes you that excited."

Mikey's eyes sparkled with so much glee that Hikari would've mistaken him for a Lightfury.

"Awesome, I'll make you guys the best omelet ever!" He cheered and rolled off the counter. Leo grumbled and moved his tea away just before Mikey could knock it over.

While Mikey was busying himself with breakfast for his family, Leo leaned over to Hikari and whispered, "By the way Hikari, if Mikey gives you anything with worms or algae, just say no."

Hearing the serious tone in his voice, Hikari nodded and took his words to heart.

Luckily the meal was worm and algae free as Mikey gave everyone their food. Hikari took a bite and she was impressed, "This is amazing, Mikey."

"I know. I'm awesome." Mikey basked under her praise and started eating too.

"Where did you find this stuff, Mikey?" Raph asked, pleased to finally not having worms for breakfast.

"I saw this store a couple blocks away from us yesterday, I went back there to see if I could find something." Mikey answered with his mouth full, "Did you know humans just throw perfectly good food out?"

The group enjoyed the rest of their breakfast in peace after Master Splinter came out and stood by the door to the dojo.

Leo noticed his Sensei and collected his brothers, "Come on guys, it's time for morning training."

The turtles headed for the dojo, leaving Hikari a little clueless to what she should do now. This was the first time she was without any of the brothers since she left the facility.

Seeing this, Master Splinter walked over to her, "Hikari, Leonardo informed me that you are a skilled fighter as well. Would you like to join us?"

She was surprised but happy to included, "Of course. Thank you, Master Splinter."

With that, both Hikari and Master Splinter entered the dojo. To say that the turtles were surprised was an understatement.

* * *

"I have asked Hikari to join us today." Splinter stated, "At the end of the session, you will all spar against each other, the last one will get to spar against Hikari. Hopefully, she will add more diversity and unpredictability to this session."

"Hai, sensei." The brothers bowed before getting into position. Master Splinter led Hikari to a side where she sat and watched as they practiced their katas. At the end of the session, they each took out the weapons.

"Do I get a weapon as well, Master Splinter?" Hikari looked to him for answers.

Master Splinter thought about it before agreeing and showing her all of the weapons he had stored over the years, "Very well. What weapon do you wish to use?"

Hikari took a look at the weapons they had before choosing one that was the most similar to her signature whip, a chain with a kama on one end and a small weight on the other.

"A kusarigama. An interesting choice."

"Cool, twinsies!" Mikey swung his nunchucks excitedly.

Hikari returned to her spot alongside Splinter. The turtles got into position on each corner of the mat, waiting for the words.

"Hajime!" Splinter called out, and everything sprang into action.

Hikari watched as the brothers started fighting, she noticed some things right off the bat. Raph would often charge headfirst into the first enemy he saw. In this case, it was Leo. Leo was much more stable in his stance, countering every attack from Raph. But he seemed to be losing on pure strength when comparing to Raphael. She looked over to Mikey and Donnie who were taking it less seriously than their older brothers.

Mikey was bouncing around the mat, drawing Donnie's attention all over the place with his playful jabs. Normally her instructors would call this a horrible strategy since it wasted your energy more than the enemy's, but Mikey's stamina seemed to have no end while Donnie was getting more frustrated by the minute. With Donnie's fighting becoming more stagnated and brash, Mikey's speed helped him to capitalize on an opening. Mikey whacked Donnie in the head with one of his nunchucks and performed a jump kick. It was enough to send him to the wall and Donnie was the first out of the match.

Donnie sat next to Hikari and she shot a concerned glance over to him. He noticed and gave a weak smile while rubbing the bruise forming on his head, "It's fine, it happens."

Back to the match, Mikey seemed to be charging at Leo who was still locked in combat with Raph. Leo noticed his little brother and kicked Mikey off with a side kick, knocking the wind out of Mikey and Mikey himself out of the mat. "I'll get you next time, Leo… Next time." Mikey muttered dramatically before crawling over to Donnie and Hikari.

However, that slight distraction from Mikey was all Raph needed to trip Leo himself and pin him down to the ground with a sai to his head. "Two times in a row." Raph smirked triumphantly, "Better luck next time, Leo."

Leo stomped off with a crossed expression, annoyed to have lost to Raph again and humiliated that he lost in front of Hikari. He wasn't sure why but it made the defeat even worse than usual.

"Yame! Well done, Raphael." Master Splinter turned to Hikari, "Hikari, it is your turn."

She nodded and stood in front of Raphael, her weapon in hand prepared for combat.

"Not every day you get to spar with the best." He gloated, still on the high with his victory.

"I guess you should consider it an honor then." She replied without missing a beat.

"Oooooh…" Mikey was leaning forward, now on the edge on his metaphorical seat.

"Did she really just say that?" Leo looked to Donnie, who nodded.

"Raph is gonna be pissed." Donnie still looking at Hikari in shock.

"Alright, wonder woman. Bring it." Raph brandished his sais with a spin.

"Hajime!"

Hikari started swinging the chain at Raph's arm, trying to disarm his weapons. Raph noticed and dodged the attack immediately. She took the chance and stayed on the offensive, pulling the chain back and swinging the weighted end at him again. The swings and her fluid movements made her look like she was dancing with the chain landing hits on Raph's arm and knees. It was much heavier than her uni-weapon but she managed to use it well enough when Raph tried to close the distance for a strike. She used the bladed end to guard against his attacks, much like her own sword. She accidentally casted her arm out with her chain behind her like she was throwing her whip, her body acting like the kusarigama was her uni-weapon.

It was Raph's chance to strike and he punched her in the face, knocking her onto her side. He strolled over to her, "Ready to tap out?"

"Never." Hikari rolled back and spun her chain. She threw it before Raph could even snap out of his victory moment, the chain wrapped around his legs and he collapsed onto the ground. She moved in with the blade to his head to claim her victory, just as Raph had his sai in his right hand aimed at her throat.

"Yame!"

With that, the battle was over. Raph and Hikari noticed just how close their battle had actually become. Hikari undid the chain around Raph's legs and put her hand out to help him. Raph looked at her for a moment before accepting it, letting her help him up. Both of them went to sit before Master Splinter with the others.

"Excellent work from the two of you. Raphael, you were overconfident and arrogant. You should never consider the battle over until it is over."

"Hai, sensei."

"Hikari, you performed well with a weapon you are not familiar with, but you lost focus. One must always be vigilant on the battlefield."

"Yes, Master Splinter."

Splinter then turned to his other sons, "What do you boys think of their performance?"

"That. Was. So. AWESOME!" Mikey all but jumped from his spot and hugged Hikari's shoulders.

"I've never seen a sparring match get that close before." Donnie was still impressed with their match.

"It's nice to see someone put Raph in his place once in a while." Leo joked, obviously proud of Hikari.

Raph punched him in the arm in response before looking at Hikari, "Gotta say. Even after yesterday, I didn't expect that out of ya."

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Donnie asked.

"All Lightfuries are trained warriors." She answered, "We stand together to guard Nebula 74 and everything within it."

"That's a lot of protection." Leo noted.

"We have many enemies who come to our home seeking power and more."

"Either way, your skills are impressive." Master Splinter stroked his beard.

Hikari's eyes widen at the praise. She didn't think that she'd impress their teacher of all people. "Thank you. Though it's nothing compared to what you all can do." She looked down humbly.

"Would you like to learn it then?"

If the feeling of ending in a draw with one of the best fighters of the team was able to send her back to the stars, it was nothing compared to the joy she felt when she heard his offer.

"Yes. I would love to. Thank you so much, Master Splinter." She was so happy her skin was glowing. The others were caught off guard on but didn't point out.

Master Splinter continued unfazed, "As my student, I am now your sensei. You may address me as such."

"Hai, sensei." She bowed, just as she saw the turtles do so.

* * *

After training ended, the turtles had questions for Hikari about her fighting and her home. Leo was the first to ask, "You said Lightfuries were trained warriors, how long have you been in training?"

"Lightfuries are trained from young to use our energy in combat." She did some mental calculations, "In Earth years, I would have been six years old when I started training. In a few months, I will be fifteen years old."

"Just like the rest of us!" Mikey chimed in.

She smiled and nodded before continuing, "To answer your question, Leo. I have actually completed the first part of my training, and I won't be able to advance until I've gained my True form."

The turtles looked confused so Hikari kept explaining, "Our True forms are when Lightfuries are at their strongest. Aside from our current forms, Lightfuries have another form where our physical forms and strengths are boosted, we also gain the ability to fly and full access of our energy. We call it our True forms."

"So you don't have control of whatever powers you have right now." Raph summarized.

"No." She quipped back playfully, "But then again, I didn't need them against you just now."

"Dang son." Mikey leered until Raph smacked him on the head again. Hikari started petting his head to comfort him, making him complacent and almost purr under her touch. Leo couldn't help but feel a little jealous of all the attention his baby brother was getting.

"Until then, we have to use our weapons. They redirect our energy into something controlled and usable." She paused, "I _could_ use my powers right now, but that might shock all of you as well as overload every circuit and machine in the lair."

Donnie stood up with a stern look, "Absolutely not. Do you have any idea how hard it is to set up all this stuff?"

"No." Mikey answered, his voice a little slurred from the petting.

"Of course not! Because I'm the one frying my fingers off!" Donnie screeched angrily at his little brother, who again was too giddy to really care.

"Relax Donnie, no one's breaking anything." Leo put his arm on Donnie's shoulder.

"Didn't you break the toaster a few days ago?" Raph smirked at his older brother.

"Not the point, Raph." Leo shot back, embarrassed at Raph managed to humiliate him in front of Hikari again. He immediately changed the topic, "So Hikari, what kind of weapons do you have?"

Hikari stopped her petting, making Mikey pout and mourn its loss, to properly answer his question, "Besides guns and heavier security measures on Nebula 74, we really only have two we use in training. But it's all we really need."

Hikari asked for something she can draw on to demonstrate. Donnie went into his lab and returned with a few sheets of scrap paper and some pens. Hikari used the pens to draw simple sketches of her weapons, the first one being a stick that was cut and rejoined in three sections.

"The first and most common is the uni-weapon. It looks like a normal metal rod, but we can use our energy to transform it into any hand weapon we can think of. Guardians still use uni-weapons with their True forms, makes the weapon even stronger. The other one is more for training, the Athenian guard."

She stopped again to draw a simple arm and a sketch of the Athenian guard. The others watched her and Raph noticed something about her drawing, "It looks like that thing Mikey had on his hand when he ate it on that half-pipe."

"Wrist brace." Donnie corrected.

Hikari wasn't sure what a wrist brace was but she let it slide, "Well, like the uni-weapon, it redirects our energy into either a shield or a blade which can be used for offense." She drew where the shield and blade would appear from, "Most stopped using it after they got their True forms because you can make shields much stronger and bigger than you ever could with the Athenian guard."

"You keep talking about True forms, how do you get it?" Donnie asked.

To the turtles' surprise, Hikari started to blush. Her silver eyes widened as she became flustered and her skin was glowing in a subtle shade of pink. Leo found it adorable that a simple question could knock her so off-balance.

"Well… I-It happens naturally." She stammered, "It's a stage in our lives. Most of us usually get our True forms after our training, some get it before then and some are a little late on getting it."

"So it's like puberty?" Donnie now blushing as well at the implication.

"What's puberty?"

"Right… I keep forgetting you're not from Earth."

She looked down at that, "Sorry, though I would like to learn more about Earth and your culture."

"She's gonna regret that." Raph chuckled and Leo couldn't agree more.

Just as they guessed, Mikey took the chance to jump into the conversation and put his arm around her, "Oh! I'll teach you everything. I can show you my favorite foods and all my comic books!"

"Mikey, it's going to take more than superhero comics to show Earth's culture." Donnie stepped in, "I can teach you everything you could learn about the planet and it's culture."

"Boring." Raph taunted, "If you want learn from these losers, fine. But if you really wanna know what Earth has to offer, I can show you every awesome thing I know of."

"It all sounds amazing." She looked at all of them, "I want to try it all."

Leo on the other hand, was left on the sidelines and rolled his eyes at his brothers, "Come on guys, we're supposed to check in on April."

Donnie perked up at the mention of April's name, "Really? Already? Let's go then!" He stood up and leaped over the turnstile.

"Could that kid be any more obvious?" Raph shook his head and followed Donnie. Mikey followed right after him. Hikari was walking towards the exit when she felt Leo's hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Hikari, sorry if my brothers are a little much." Leo apologized for his brother. He was annoyed that they crowded Hikari like that, and a little frustrated that they could be so at ease around her when he couldn't.

"It's fine, Leo. I'm really excited to see what they have to show me."

Leo scratched the back of his neck as he muttered, "If you can make some time for me too, I want to show you more about ninjutsu and maybe you could teach me some of your fighting."

"I would love to." Her smile when she said that to him made every negative feeling he had melted away and he couldn't help doing a little fist pump after she left. He quickly followed his team, feeling lighter than before.

Master Splinter looked from the dojo as his eldest son practically skipping on clouds on his way out. He chuckled at the display, but there was a sense of worry as well. Love brought pain just as much as it did joy. He knew that all too well. He could only pray for the best for his son.

* * *

The group made it to April's apartment and knocked on her window. April showed up and opened the window, already looking better after a night's rest.

"Hey, April." Mikey greeted her.

"Hey, guys." She greeted the turtles before noticing Hikari, "Oh it's you. Did you fix your voice machine?"

Hikari nodded, "Yes. I never got to thank you for helping me, April." She reached out and gave April a hug from the window, "Thank you."

"Umm…" April squirmed uncomfortably from the sudden hug, making Hikari let go with a confused look.

"Is this not how you show appreciation?" Hikari looked to the brothers, "Mikey does it all the time."

"Not when you're not close." Leo explained to her before turning to April, "Sorry. Hikari isn't actually from here."

"I guess I owe you an explanation too." She pulled away from April with a serious and somber look, "How much time do you have?"

"Enough. Come on in." April let Hikari in before closing the window on the turtles.

The turtles were frozen in shock until Raph voiced what they were all thinking, "Did she just lock us out?"

Now alone, Hikari retold the story she shared with Splinter and the turtles, as well as how she got her new name. April didn't say much and just listened to her until she finished her story, "Wow. So the Kraang kidnapped you and killed everyone else on your ship. I'm so sorry."

Hikari appreciated the thought but the words didn't feel as comforting as it should be. "It was awful. But I'm safe from the Kraang now. And I've made new friends too." She smiled a little at the thought of them.

"Yup," April said as she hugged Hikari.

Caught off guard, she was frozen before wrapping April into a proper hug hesitantly, "Does this mean we're close now?"

"Yup. Consider me your first girl friend on Earth." April pulled back from the hug and took another look at her new friend, "Speaking of, why are you still wearing that?"

Hikari knew exactly what April meant and winced, "I don't have anything else to change into."

"Not if I can help it." She declared before opening the window to four very bored teenage turtles, "Guys, I'm taking Hikari off your hands for a few hours. Meet us back at my place."

April then grabbed Hikari's wrist and started leading her out the door. Hikari didn't expect this and started panicking.

"Guys? Leo?!" She cried out as she was pulled out of April's room.

The turtles all watched it happened but neither of them knew what to do. "Should we be worried?" Donnie asked.

"They're girls, they'll be fine." Raph shrugged it off.

"Alright ninjas, let's hit the rooftops." Leo said. The four of them jumping up to start their run throughout New York City.

* * *

Hikari had stopped panicking and started questioning April as she was pulled through the crowds, "Where are we going?"

"You're not going to fit in on Earth if you keep wearing that. You need a new style and there's one place to get a new style really cheap." April answered her as she slowed down her pace, letting Hikari walk alongside her.

Hikari understood what she meant now that she was up on the surface and around other humans. Her jumpsuit uniform was very different from what April or anyone else on the streets was wearing. That along with being in a group of humans for the first time made her feel extremely exposed and uncomfortable.

They soon arrived at a 24-hour thrift shop. April led Hikari inside and showed her the clothes sections. Both girls shared a peaceful silence as they each browsed and picked pieces of clothing that caught their eye.

"So, how was your first real night on out of that place?" April asked, being extra careful not to reveal what really happened.

"The guys have been wonderful. They're so nice. They've even offered to teach me more about Earth and its culture." Hikari whispered, checking out the shirt she picked out.

April shuddered at the idea, "I don't know if a group of reclused teenage boys is the best source for that."

"I think it'll be fine. Each one of them wants to show me something different. Maybe we can spend time together too and you can show me things that they missed."

"That sounds like fun. I need to keep my mind away from what happened yesterday."

"I'm sorry we couldn't save your father, April."

"I know, Hikari. I just wish he was here right now."

"Well I am here to help you, and I know the others are too."

"Thanks." She felt a little better after talking to someone who understood what she was going through. She turned to Hikari with confidence, "Anyways, tell me more about you. I need to know what I'm working with."

With their spirits lifted, the girls tore through the stores before leaving with a nice haul and a couple of bright grins on their faces.

* * *

"Great, no sign of the Kraang." Raphael said in disappointment as he landed back on the fire escape at April's place.

Leo and the others followed right behind him, recounting all their adventures, "But we did stop a bank robbery, saved a hobo from getting mugged…"

"And we saved a box full of kittens from the Hudson River." Mikey gushed before wincing in pain from all the scratch injuries, "Oww…"

"For the last time Mikey, the cats were fine where they were." Donnie reprimanded him, "It was on dry land, you're the one who wanted to move the litter into central park."

Donnie took a deep breath before knocking on April's window with a smile. April slammed open the window in her excitement, hitting Donnie in the face while his brothers were laughing behind him.

"Oops, sorry Donnie," She apologized before getting excited again, "Guys, check out the new Hikari."

April stepped back and signaled to Hikari, who walked up right next to April and showed off her new outfit to her friends.

"Woah…" Leo felt his heart racing again and his jaw dropped in awe. Gone was the space jumpsuit she was wearing. Instead, she was wearing a short wine-red leather jacket with a dark blue t-shirt of a red panda in space. She was also wearing a pair of jeans that fit her well enough that Leo didn't want to be caught staring. Somehow, they managed to find a pair of black sneakers to match. It gave her a cool but dorky look with the red panda shirt standing out.

April noticed Leo's awestruck expression and giggled, "Looks like Leo's catching flies tonight."

Hikari turned to her confused, "I thought turtles don't eat flies."

As always, Mikey was the first to react with glee, "You look so rad!"

"Really liking the leather." Raph nodded in approval, which made both April and Hikari happy.

"You've got amazing tastes, April."

"Thanks, Donnie."

After that, everyone looked at Leo who was still lost in his awe. Raph snickered, "You awake there, fearless leader?"

"Huh?" That snapped Leo out of his haze and he suddenly realized that everyone, especially Hikari, was waiting for him to say something.

"Oh yeah! Y-You look great, Hikari." He stuttered as he looked to the ground, knowing his brothers were never going to let him live that down.

"Thank you, Leo."

He looked up at her again and he started blushing again, "Look at the time, we should head back." He stepped back from the window, looking ready to book it back into the sewers, "Thanks for helping Hikari, April."

April giggled at the sight of the leader that saved her tripping over himself because of Hikari, She handed Hikari the rest of her bags as she left April's room, "No problem. I'll see you tomorrow, Hikari."

"Bye April." She waved, too confused by why Leo was acting so strange so suddenly. She joined the turtles on the rooftop, with Mikey carrying her on his shell as they leaped across the buildings. Leo couldn't do it since he couldn't even get close to her without turning red.

They made it back into the sewers and headed home. Hikari was delighted when she realized they weren't going to cover her eyes this time. She was disappointed earlier when Leo told Mikey to help her across the rooftops, instead of doing it himself. Even now, he was walking ahead of the group, instead of near or beside her. She told herself that he might be injured and that him avoiding her so suddenly might not have anything to do with her new look, not that she was good at convincing herself.

"So what did you two talk about?" Donnie asked.

"Girl stuff."

Raph eyed the two full plastic bags that Hikari had, "And where did you get all this?"

"Thrift stores. Like Mikey said, humans throw out surprisingly good things."

Mikey jumped over the turnstiles before asking, "Oooh, can we watch some movies tonight?"

"Of course. And April actually bought one that we can all watch together." She placed the bags down on the couch in the pit before digging through one of the bags to pull out a tape.

Raph snatched the tape from her hands and scoffed when he saw the title, "Chicago: the Musical? Are you kidding me?"

"Give it a chance, Raph. April thinks all of us would enjoy this one." Hikari looked to the others for backup. Mikey was disappointed that he didn't get to choose, but he was willing to let Hikari choose her very first movie on Earth. Leo was still too busy trying to get used to Hikari's new look and just agreed with her.

"Well, April's never been wrong." Donnie added.

Realizing he's lost, he groaned in defeat, "Alright, fine."

He handed his little brother the tape. Donnie set everything up and started the movie.

After the end credits rolled, the five teenagers were red-faced and awestruck. Raph said nothing but had a new respect for women. Donnie and Leo were blushing from the questionable displays throughout the movie, both spending more time making sure one of them was covering innocent Mikey's eyes whenever skin started to show. Mikey started humming the soundtrack whenever there was a quiet moment in the lair or out in the city. Hikari, on the other hand, fell in love with the choreography and took time rewatching every musical number.

Hikari made sure to give April a thank you note afterward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I was listening to the Chicago soundtrack while writing this. Gotta love Cell Block Tango. I enjoy listening to music while writing, it helps me get into the mood and mindset of the characters.
> 
> I decided to change it into a third-person POV instead of a first-person one. It will still mostly follow Hikari and Leo along with insights to both of their minds, and other characters as well. Let me know if you prefer this or the first-person POV.
> 
> I hope you enjoy Hikari's character as much as I do, I'm working on nailing down her character arc and I'm having fun with what I'm going so far. I hope my little explanation on Lightfury lore makes sense. This is the first time I'm creating a whole new race in my head and I'm still working on the finer things.
> 
> If you enjoy it, please let me know. I'd love to hear what you guys have to say.


	3. Turtle Temper

It had been a couple of weeks since Hikari started living with them, and they all got into a pattern. After breakfast, they would go for morning training where Mikey would teach her how to use the kusarigama after they practiced their katas. Donnie would then go with her to teach her English and about the Earth.

"You won't fit in well if you have that translator on you all the time. I can teach you and soon you won't even need it on Earth." Donnie said to her once during lunch. Hikari agreed and now they spent a couple of hours on Earth and English lessons. She even agreed to take it off sometimes when they go to the surface once Hikari could understand enough without it.

Leo and Hikari also spent their time together practicing their forms in the dojo. They also shared stories about their families, with Leo telling a lot of adventures they had when they all were turtle tots. If he made himself sound a little better than the truth in those stories, Hikari never said anything and enjoyed it all the same. He even got her to watch Space Heroes, which she enjoyed but only because she found it charmingly silly and fantastical. She told him that much, but it didn't matter because he felt giddy for the rest of the day when she mentioned how Captain Ryan reminded her of Leo himself.

Soon it was time to head out, and Hikari was allowed to come with them for the first time. She took the kusarigama with Splinter's permission and she left with the chain hooked on her waist. She loved the freedom she felt while running on the rooftops and jumping on her own now that she was finally used to the gravity.

Now they were patiently waiting on a rooftop for the Kraang to appear.

"This is amazing. I can't believe that I'm out here with you guys." She gushed as she fiddled with the chain of her kusarigama, "Don't get me wrong, I like spending time with April but I was getting a little cooped up with nothing but training."

"Yeah. I mean what better way to train than hanging with the ninjas?" Mikey was sitting behind Raph, poking at Raph for his own amusement.

Raph, on the other hand, was on his last straw.

"Mikey quit it." Raph reached behind him and pinched the offending finger, making Mikey yelp in pain.

Leo was getting fed up with their antics. "Guys, when ninjas are on surveillance, they are supposed to be SILENT." He hissed before returning on guard with Donnie.

"Sorry Leo, I'll scream quieter." Mikey apologized but Hikari could see the mischief in his eyes as he had his finger out again.

"Mikey, you know better." She warned him.

"Do I?" Mikey smirked before poking Raph again.

That was enough to push Raph over the edge. Raph grabbed Mikey's wrist and pounced onto Mikey, knocking him onto the ground along with the satellite dish behind them. Their brawl ended with Mikey's arm twisted painfully behind his back as Raph on Mikey's back.

"Say it!" Raph commanded.

Leo looked back to them and hissed angrily, "Raph! Be quiet!"

"Not till Mikey says it."

Raph twisted Mikey's arm a little more until he finally cracked, "Ahh! Raphael is all-wise and powerful."

"And?"

"And he's better than me in every possible way."

"And?"

"And I'm a lowly worm beneath his feet, who isn't fit to live on the same planet as him, because he's so amazing and I'm a dirt clod."

"And?"

"And in the history of the universe there's never been-"

"Ok, enough!" Leo marched over and separated at his immature brothers. Raph relented and went back to his spot.

"Are patrols always like this?" Hikari asked, only getting a facepalm from Donnie as an answer.

"We're wasting our time out here." Raph said, "The Kraang aren't gonna show up."

"Have a little patience, will you?" Leo sighed as he went back on watch.

"They're gonna break into that lab tonight." Donnie said confidently, "I have reliable intel."

"Intel?" Raph looked at him with a smirk, "You mean April told you."

"You mean your girlfriend?" Mikey joined with an equally playful grin.

"She's not my girlfriend, Mikey. She's a girl who's a friend, whose dad got kidnapped by the same aliens who are gonna break into that lab." Donnie explained while his brothers and Hikari just gave him blank stares.

"Jeez, at this point Leo's got a better chance of getting a girl than Donnie." Raph said before laughing with Mikey.

Donnie was peeved while Leo blushed in embarrassment and frustration. Hikari was curious about what Raph said, but she didn't want to do any more damage since Leo looked like he was ready to throw his brothers off the roof.

"Look, the Kraang are going to be here any moment so let's all just wait here quietly." Leo tried to reason with Raph.

"Or we could just be sitting here on a cold rooftop all night for no reason." Raph countered.

"What the heck is going on here?!" Whatever Leo was going to say next was cut off when the group turned and looked to the voice. It was an angry man who looked to be in his late 40s. He was wearing a white wifebeater and disgusting shorts, he looked pudgy and unkempt. He clearly didn't care how anyone saw him.

"Oh no," Hikari muttered when the situation hit them all: they've been spotted.

"What are ya, playing dress-up?" The man yelled, looking at the group with disgust and annoyance.

"N-No sir, we're just-" Leo tried to answer before the man started yelling again.

"Which one of you slimy green ham shanks busted my satellite dish?"

Raph took an obvious offense to that. He growled with his hand tightening around his weapon, "Ham shank?!"

"What does that mean?" Hikari looked to Donnie again for answers.

"I don't know, I don't even think that's a word." He answered honestly, which confused Hikari even more.

"Me neither, I don't like it." Raph started walking towards the man, ready to give the man a taste of his own anger.

"Raph, it's fine." Hikari stopped Raph with a hand on his shoulder. She turned to the man and bowed, "I'm sorry sir, we can fix your satellite dish. Just go back and don't worry."

"What? You can't be serious."

Hikari stood back upright, glancing at the broken dish then back at Raph, "We _did_ break it."

"Fine." Raph put his sais away before turning back to the group.

"That's right, you spineless cream puff." The man gloated, "Listen to your girlfriend."

"What?!" The group shouted. Hikari looked at Raph and the man in shock, while Leo's face paled at the idea.

"Hey, watch it buddy. She ain't my girlfriend." Raph turned again to face the man with his sais in position.

Both of them kept throwing jabs at each other, doing nothing but riling the other up more and more with every line. The others tried to keep Raphael in check but their arguments only brought more trouble as the Kraang start dropping with their guns charged.

"Kraangdroids!"

"Holy Toledo!" The man shouted before cowering behind the door of the stairway.

"Way to blow our position, Raph." Leo glared at Raph before giving his orders, "Scram!"

The team broke off and started fighting off the Kraang. Raph unleashed his anger on the Kraang as he knocked them down one after the other. Leo was holding his ground well, jumping to avoid gunfire while disabling the Kraang with every slash. Mikey was breaking heads off the droids and punting the Kraang brains with his nunchucks as they tried to escape, treating the creature like golfballs as they soared off the building. Donnie and Hikari were each dealing with a group of them. Donnie was busy whacking them off the sides of the rooftop with his bo staff, not noticing the change in Hikari's stance.

Hikari's eyes went dark when she saw the Kraang again for the first time since her escape. She was sending the blade of her kusarigama through the droids before pulling it back and using the weighted end with a wide sweep to push more of them off as well. And if the blade hit a little lower down the torso than the brothers were comfortable with, or if the blade had a fresh coat on with every attack, Hikari made sure that none of her friends noticed it.

"Keep going! Kung fu frogs, this is a gold mine." The man cheered to himself as he recorded the entire battle,

Raph heard the bald man and started arguing again, "We're not frogs! We're turtles!"

As the last Kraangdroid was destroyed, they relaxed before they noticed Raph and the man. Hikari eyed the thing the man had in his hand. "Guys, what's he doing?" She asked

Leo paused before realizing and blurting it out, "He got us on video."

"Not for long!" Raph jumped at the man, only to meet the door with his face. He was scowling, ready to kick down the door to finish the job if he didn't hear what Donnie said.

"Fire truck's en route, 30 seconds."

"Let's go." Leo ordered before he, Donnie and Mikey jumped over to the next building.

"Wait, we gonna break the guy's phone. And his face." Raph called out impatiently.

"Come on, Raph." Hikari said before following the others.

With no other choice, Raph left with his team grumpy and aching for a rematch.

* * *

Master Splinter was not happy when he heard Leo's report on their mission, "So not only did Raphael alert the Kraang, but you got caught" He paused to look straight at the group, "On video."

Leo, Mikey, Donnie and Hikari all dropped their heads in shame. But Raph wasn't about to take the brunt for this, "Sensei, he was the angriest, nastiest guy you ever met."

"Except for you." Mikey joked, earning himself another punch in the head from Raph.

"He called Hikari my girlfriend! He was awful to her even after she offered to help him. You should have heard the insults this guy was throwing at us." Raph continued to defend himself, "They were so Insulting!"

Hikari was surprised to hear Raphael defend her. Even if he accepted her into their home, she wasn't as close to him as Leo or the others. Hearing that Raph did care for her enough to step in did make her feel more at ease. After all, she didn't want to cause any tension within the family.

However, that did not soothe their sensei's anger, "Oh, I did not realize he said mean things. Of course, you had no choice but to jeopardize your mission."

"Burn." Mikey chided and Raph just glared at him while Master Senpai continued talking.

"You five are ninjas. You work in the shadows, in secret. This becomes difficult if there is proof of your existence in high-definition."

"Look, we know where this guy lives." Raph stated, "All we need to do is find him and shake him until the tape pops out."

"Oh, there's no tape. Video phones use flash memory." Donnie pointed out. Raph now turning his glare to Donnie for interrupting him while Donnie just shrugged, "Just saying."

"Whatever, we smash the phone then. Boom, no more video."

Master Splinter looked at Raph disapprovingly, "Anger is self-destructive."

"I always thought it was others-destructive." Raph quipped back.

"Raphael! Stand up." Splinter's stern words sent chills up their spines and made them sit even straighter. Raph stood up and Splinter gestured for the others to come as well.

Everyone entered the dojo, following behind Raph and Master Splinter. He made Raphael stand in the center and handed everyone else a quiver filled with suction-cups arrows and a bow. The rest of the turtles and Hikari stood around Raph in a circle, waiting for Master Splinter's orders.

"Raphael, evade the arrows."

"No problem."

"Hajime!"

They fired their arrows, but Raph managed to dodge them all with precision. One after another, none of them even came close to hitting him. Raph dodged an arrow that was now heading for Splinter. He caught the arrow without flinching.

"Yame! Again. Except this time Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Hikari, insult Raphael."

"Insult him?" Donnie blinked.

"Yes."

"And he can't fight back.

"No."

"I'm feeling good about this plan." Donnie grinned while Raph, desperate to prove his family wrong, took a deep breath before getting into position.

"Hajime!"

The others circled around him before Mikey made the first strike.

"You move like a bloated buffalo!" Mikey shouted before firing his arrow.

"I do not!" Raph yelled back, unable to dodge the arrow that was now on his shell.

"And you're always whining. 'Poor me. Nobody understands me'." Leo mimicked him before releasing his arrow.

"Well, you don't understa- Gah!" Another arrow on his shell.

"And Oh! You don't keep your back straight when doing omote kote gyaku." Donnie fired another

"Gah!"

"You're all talk, you can't even beat a girl," Hikari smirked as she shot her arrow.

"Shut up!" He shouted again, and her arrow joined the others.

"And you're ugly! Ooh! And gassy." Mikey said before firing two more. He cheered as they hit their marks, "Bull's-eye!"

"Stop it!"

"Oh, you talk so tough, but inside, you're just a scared little baby."

"Who needs his bottle?"

"And his diaper changed?"

"Need me to sing you a lullaby, Raph?"

"Ah!" Raph got more and more frustrated with every word and arrow that came his way.

"What's the matter, Raph? Gonna cry?"

"I am. Not. Gonna. Cry!" Raph's outburst was cut short by an arrow to his forehead.

"Ah…" Mikey sighed in bless, "I wish this moment could last forever."

"You know what, forget it." Raph pulled the arrow off his head and chucked it to the ground, "This is stupid."

"Aww, it didn't." Mikey said, disappointed.

Master Splinter stopped the exercise and his students all gathered in front of him.

"Ninniku Seishin is the ability to endure insults with patience and humility. You cannot be a true ninja until you master it." Master Splinter looked to Raph, "Understood?"

"Hai, sensei."

He then turned to the rest of his sons and Hikari, "You must get that video back. Using reason, not force."

"Hai, sensei." They all said before being dismissed.

As they all file out of the dojo, Hikari was worried for Raph, that he might end like the way she was if he kept going the way he did. She approached him when he was alone in the pit, "Hey Raph, can I talk to you?"

"What?" Raph crossed his arms, already annoyed and humiliated.

"It's about what happened in there, your anger."

"Ugh, you're gonna lecture me too?"

"I don't consider it as lecturing, more like advice." She clarified, "You are right about one thing, anger can be a powerful force for destruction. But only if you use it right. Anger is another form of energy. If you can't control it, you're just going to blow up and go supernova. You don't want that."

"Why not? Going supernova sounds awesome."

Her eyes turned somber as she answered, "Because you can't control who you'll hurt, even yourself."

Raph looked at her inquisitively, both stood there in silence before Raph turned to leave, "I'm gonna get ready to head out."

Leo noticed the odd expression on Raph's face and asked Hikari, "What was that about?"

"Just a chat with Raphael. I think he understood."

"Ok…" He wanted to ask more but didn't want to overstep his boundaries, "Well, we're leaving in 10 minutes. Be ready."

"Understood, Leo."

* * *

Finding the man was incredibly easy. The turtles and Hikari made it back to the building and heard the man running his mouth into his phone. He was busy chatting to whoever was on the other side of the call, "That's right. I swear on my mother's grave that these guys are frogs and they know Kung Fu. They even have a little girl mascot. You can't tell me that's not worth something."

The group all dropped down from the shadows, startling him for a moment until he recognized them.

"I'll call you back." He hung up the call but waved his phone in warning, "Lay one finger on me, frog, and I'm calling the cops. That goes for your little girlfriend there."

"She's not my-" Raph swallowed his anger before saying behind gritted teeth, "We're not gonna hurt you."

"Then what do you want, freak?"

"We got off on the wrong foot last night. Some things were said, and well, we would just like that video back."

"Hmm?"

"Please?" Raph clenched his jaw so hard the word sounded more like a hiss.

The man now looked smug as he crossed his arms, "What are you gonna give me for it?"

"Give you for it?"

"Well, I figure I've got you over a barrel, so you've got to make it worth my while."

Raph's short patience was burning even shorter every second he was talking to him. "I'll make it worth your while. I won't take your hand and smash it against the-" His threat was cut off as Leo stepped in.

"Okay, okay, thank you, Raphael. I will take over." Leo now looked at the man with a forced desperate smile, "So what do you want?"

"A cool mil from both of you oughta cover it."

"Mmhmm, mm-hmm." Leo nodded before asking, "A cool mil of what?"

"A million dollars, from both you and snow angel too." He specified, looking at both Leo and Hikari who was confused by her nickname.

"Umm, we don't have a million dollars."

"We do have some Canadian dollars that fell through the grate." Mikey piped in, showing off the pennies and quarters he had.

The man was unimpressed, "I can make some serious money off this thing. And if you don't want to pay. I'll hold onto it until someone does."

"That's it!" Raph was done with all of this and marched in front of the man's face, "Hand over the video or so help me. I'll kick your hairy butt all the way to New Jersey!"

This was once again cut short as Kraangdroids appeared before them. The group broke off to fight their enemies again while the man tried to run away. Raph noticed this and he wasn't ready to let it go, "This one's not getting away from me!"

Raph destroyed the Kraangdroid with a sai to its upper torso before chasing after the man.

"Raph! What are you doing?!" Leo called out to his brother, deflecting the gun blasts as he sliced the arms off the droid.

Soon the Kraang started to retreat and ran towards Raph's direction, the group gave chase and saw both Raph and the man fighting in the truck the Kraang were getting into.

"Raph, get out here!" Raph heard Leo scream, but it didn't matter when he was facing the man who insulted him and threatened him by exposing himself and his family. Just before Raph managed to place a hit on him, a Kraangdroid grabbed his arm and another started attacking him as well. They all fought in the crowded space and Raph ended up getting thrown out of the truck, rolling down the road while the man with the video was now in the truck with the Kraang.

The rest of them caught up and Raph got up from the ground. Leo walked right up to him, his expression brimming with his disapproval, "Nice going, Raph."

"What did I do?"

"What did you do?" Leo's composure broke as he scolded his brother, "You left us in the middle of the fight to yell at somebody. We could have stopped them, but thanks to your temper, the guy with the tape-"

"Again, technically, it's a flash." Donnie clarified to deaf ears.

"-in the hands of the Kraang."

"How are we supposed to find them?" Hikari asked and looked to Leo for answers.

Mikey, who was looking around and trying to drown out another argument between his two oldest brothers, noticed something on the road. "Look, the truck's leaking." He pointed out, drawing his team's attention to a trail of oil.

"Good find, Mikey." Hikari petted his head again, much to his delight.

"All right! We can follow the trail to their hideout." Leo's mood lifted slightly now that they had another chance.

"And then we bash some bots." Raph walked forward before he felt Leo grabbing his shoulder. He turned back to see his team with faces of dissatisfaction and hesitance, "What?"

"We're going to bash some bots. You're going home." Leo ordered him, using a stern tone that could only come from a leader.

"What, are you kidding?" Raph gawked in disbelief, "Come on, guys. Are we gonna let Leo powertrip like this?"

"I think Leo's right." Don confessed, looking away from Raph.

"You gotta control your temper. Until then, we just can't trust you." Leo shook his head as he and Donnie started following the trail.

"Sorry, Raph." Mikey said before heading towards his brothers.

Raph's disbelief melted into despair as he finally realized what had happened, "I went supernova, didn't I?"

Hikari, who was the last one beside Raph, could only apologize, "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for? I'm the one who's getting sent home."

"Hikari, we have to go." Leo shouted from the corner of the street.

Hikari was conflicted between going with the team or staying by Raph in his moment of isolation. Unable to choose, Raph made the choice for her, "Go. You're more useful to them than I am right now."

Hikari wanted to argue, but she knew that Raph was in no mood for that. They were running low on time as it was. She sighed before she ran off to the others, leaving Raph to walk home ashamed and irritated.

* * *

It didn't take them long to find their hideout. They followed the trail down a couple of blocks before arriving near an abandoned factory. Leo scoped around the area and confirmed this was the spot. "There's the truck." He pointed at the truck, now hidden in an alleyway.

Mikey was anxious and couldn't help asking, "Are we really going to do this without Raph?"

"We can handle this."

"I don't know. Something feels missing." Mikey mused until Leo hit him on the head. Mikey smiled at the familiarity of it, "Oww! Thanks."

"Happy to help. Let's go." With that, the group snuck into the building, which was surprisingly easy. They crept through the dusty corridor that was covered with dirt and giant cobwebs connecting the ceiling to the floor.

Mikey started getting paranoid the longer he was in the building, making Donnie hit him again to try and smack some sense into him.

"Oww! You know you don't have to keep doing that." Mikey winced, getting into a heated staring contest with Donnie.

"Knock it off, guys." Leo scolded the two before walked side by side with Hikari, "Hikari, I'm glad you're here."

"Of course, I wouldn't let you do this without me."

"Sending Raph home like that wasn't easy."

"I'm sure he'll understand… eventually."

They stopped when they noticed light around the corner and voices coming from the same room. They pecked in to see the man tied to a rolling chair. The turtles were briefly annoyed when they heard him trying to bargain for a price with the Kraang, made them wonder how stupid one person could be.

Nonetheless, they continued their mission. Hikari hooked the kama onto the chair and used her kusarigama chain to pull the chair out of the room while the Kraang were distracted by the video. The man looked down at the chain when he felt himself moving. He followed the chain to see the team and Hikari pulling him away.

"We're here to get you out." Leo whispered.

"Not without my phone you're not. I ain't leaving without my phone!" The man started shouting and thrashing in his seat, alerting the Kraang to their presence.

"Remind me why we're saving him again." Donnie pulled out his bo staff, standing ready for combat.

"I'm regretting ever being nice to him." Hikari scowled as she faced off against the Kraang once again.

The Kraang started shooting, forcing the team to split off. Leo kicks one of them down before slicing its arm. Hikari was dodging fire behind a crate, using her chain to smack the head of the droid clean off and stabbing the blade straight down the torso. Just as she was about to move, she noticed something in the crate in front of her. She opened it to reveal Lightfurian technology, along with numerous sets of Athenian Guards and uni-weapons.

"Yes!" She cheers as she equips her new gear. She put the kusarigama away after wiping off the blood. With an Athenian guard on her left hand and a uni-weapon in her right palm, she activated the uni-weapon and watched it transform with glee in her eyes. In a burst of confidence and a smirk on her face, she charged into the fray with her signature energy whip.

The fight was suddenly halted by a loud scream. Both the Kraang and the team looked at the direction, before a Kraang ordered another to go check the noise. The droid did so and got impaled in the chest by a giant spider creature.

The spider creature crawled out of his hiding place and started to screech, "Look at me, I'm hideous!"

"You! You frogs did this to me!" He lunged at the turtles but was stopped when his arm was yanked behind him. Hikari used her whip to pull his arm back and he fell from the sudden stop. The force instead threw Hikari back and she tumbled over before getting up and standing by her friends.

"I don't think a spider is supposed to look like that." She remarked as the spider mutant got back up looking angrier than before.

Donnie looked to Hikari and noticed her white glowing whip, "What is that?"

"Geek over it later, Donnie." Leo shouted as he stared down the new mutant, "All right, guys, prepare to dish out the mighty wrath of justice."

Leo's heroic moment was ruined when he looked back to his brothers' fed up expressions and Hikari's barely hidden giggling at the ridiculous line.

Donnie shook his head, "Seriously. Just yell 'get him'."

"Fine. Get- " Leo managed to shout before he was thrown back into a wall of crates behind him.

The spider mutant, clearly not wasting any time and effort, closed the gap between him and the remaining members before engaging. He started attacking them with the talon-sharp tips on his upper legs, slashing them around while the team jumped around and deflected his attack.

"Is that the best you got?" Mikey taunted.

He obviously took offense and started spitting acid out of his mouth, making Mikey flinching back.

"You're supposed to say yes!" Mikey cried as he started dodging acid spit.

Hikari tried deflecting one of them by using her guard and transforming her uni-weapon into a shield, only for the acid to hit one of the metal rods and drip onto the concentration lens on her guard. The weapons deactivated and she had to drop them before the acid reached her hand.

"I just got this back!" Hikari shouted in frustration as she watched them melted into useless lumps of metal. She had no choice but to switch back to her kusarigama for the rest of the battle.

"Man, Spiderbytez is even tougher than he looks." Mikey said while catching his breath.

Leo looked at him confused, "Spiderbytez?"

"Yeah, ya know. 'Cause he's a spider and-"

"We know." Leo and Donnie groaned before Spiderbytez launched another barge of attacks.

He started spitting acid all over the place, forcing the team to duck and flip to dodge every shot. They were exhausted from the previous battles and outmatched against Spiderbytez. Just when it looked like he would get the last laugh, Raph's voice brought them hope, "Wow, I thought this guy was ugly before."

"Raph!" The team was relieved to see their strongest warrior return. However, Spiderbytez wasn't happy to see another turtle, Raph least of all.

"Well, I think you've been punished long enough. Come and join us." Leo shouted before he and the others fell down the floor.

Donnie froze when he saw the only thing saving his brothers and Hikari from a mutagen bath was a layer of glass keeping it all contained. "Uhh guys, let's not fall through this one."

They turned their heads upwards when they heard Spiderbytez and Raphael fighting. He was already taunting Raph again. To Hikari's pride and relief, Raph didn't fall victim to it again. Instead, he fought back stronger than ever. Spiderbytez soon found himself outmatched when he couldn't rile up Raph like before. After his phone was smashed under Raph's foot, he made a hasty retreat with the promise of revenge. Hikari just rolled her eyes, much like the brothers did, at his pitiful threat before climbing out of the hole they fell through along with Leo, Donnie, and Mikey.

* * *

After the battle, Hikari brought them over to the crate she opened earlier. The turtles were surprised to see all this weird tech but Donnie looked like he was in heaven. "What's all this?" He asked as he scanned through the tech.

"It's Lightfurian technology. I told you guys about this. This is a uni-weapon." She explained as she picked one of the uni-weapons out of the crate. She activated it as the brothers watched in awe as the metal rod extended and solid light came out the top, transformed into a sword. She then changed it into a bow, and lastly into her signature whip.

"So cool…" Mikey muttered with stars in his eyes.

Hikari laughed as she deactivated it and clipped it onto her belt. Donnie and Mikey looked in excitement before digging through the crate.

"Where did the Kraang get all of this?" Leo asked, making Hikari's smile drop.

"If I had to guess, my ship."

The answer caused all of them to pause and look at Hikari with sympathy. Leo reached out and tried to comfort her. "Hikari…" He started, only to have Hikari shake her head with a sad smile.

"It's fine. Someone would've pillaged the ship anyways if it was left floating in space like that. At least I have some of it back."

Neither of them really bought that she wasn't hurting but they didn't know what to say either. Donnie decided to let it go and ask her, "Hikari, would you mind if we take this back with us?"

"Of course not, Donnie."

"Better us having it than the Kraang." Leo nodded before helping with the crate, "Let's go, team."

The team left the warehouse holding the crate of tech, though none of the turtles noticed the dismantled robot bodies or the severed tentacles still dripping blood hidden away behind another wall of boxes.

* * *

Donnie was very happy when Hikari allowed him to keep a lot of the tech in his lab. She only asked to keep a bunch of weapons to keep as backups and to use them if she needed it. Donnie, Mikey, and Leo went up ahead with Hikari and Raph walking behind them. Just before they entered the lair, Raph stopped her. "Hikari, I wanted to talk to you."

"You don't need to thank me, Raph. You overcame your anger on your own."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm awesome like that." Raph waved it off, "Anyways, I wanted to ask you about that supernova thing. You talked about it like you knew exactly what it was like."

Hikari froze when she heard this. She wasn't ready to tell Raphael everything, but she knew Raph wasn't going to let it go without getting some answers. "When I was on the ship, I didn't go down without a fight. But I knew I was never going to win, so I thought of something reckless, like you plus Mikey level of reckless. Lightfuries are beings of energy, but we can only draw in so much. If you're not careful, you could easily overload yourself."

That was enough for Raphael to piece together what she meant, "Supernova… You were going to-"

Hikari cut him off, not ready to hear it said aloud, "It's in the past, I don't want to look back at it. Please, don't tell the others. I trust you not to."

"I get it." He really did. If anyone could understand repressing past mistakes and awful memories, it was him. Both shared an uncomfortable silence before Raph broke it, "You up for some sparring?"

"Are you sure? I almost won the first time and this time I have my actual weapon back."

"It was a draw. Like I've never won against you. Now I know I don't need to go easy on you."

"Likewise."

They both laughed as they headed for the dojo. What the two didn't know was that Leo overheard everything they said, his fist clenched with jealousy over Hikari and Raph. He marched off into his room, trying to mediate and keep his mind off everything that just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hikari is a little messed up right now. But after everything she's been through, could you blame her?
> 
> Fun fact, she was never supposed to go this path but it didn't make sense that a young girl that went through all that trauma wasn't gonna have some issues to deal with. This also created a very interesting dynamic between Raph and Hikari, which spurred on this new technically-not love triangle.
> 
> Is it really a love triangle when it's only one person who thinks of it as such? Anyways, I'm gonna have some fun with this.
> 
> Please let me know what you think. I'm so happy to see that there are some people who are enjoying this as much as I am.


	4. Metalhead

Fighting the Kraang was becoming more of a chore the more they improved. It had been a month now since the turtles first went up to the surface, and the team not only grew in size but also in skill. Hikari was an interesting being to Donatello but now he couldn't imagine not having her on the team. If her skills when she took on Raph the first time was considered good, then her fighting now that she had her uni-weapon back must be her top form. She was off at the corner taking on a small team of Kraang while Donnie was busy defending himself against a couple, now that his staff was broken again. He was really starting to get frustrated as he watched his brothers taking out Kraangdroids so effectively and he was stuck whacking them with his staff and hoping it was enough.

Soon the Kraang in her end were defeated and Hikari discreetly cleaned the gunk off her jacket before returning to the group. She frowned when she heard Raph picking on Donnie again. She knew that the staff wasn't always the most powerful tool, it's part of the reason she didn't choose it as her primary weapon. But she saw the discontent in Donnie's eyes when he stared at his bo staff every now and then.

Luckily for the team, the number of Kraang was dwindling with every strike. It looked like they were going to win until the Kraang brought out a new energy cannon.

"Everybody, stand your ground!" Leo said as he stood in front of his team with his katanas.

The others followed suit and stood ready to strike. But when the sound of the engines started to shake the building and Hikari could feel the power coming from the energy charge in the cannon, Leo suddenly realized the situation and changed his mind.

"On second thought, run!"

With that, everyone jumped out of the blast range, screaming as they fall out onto the sidewalk outside. They were bruised and sore, but alive. Leo was satisfied that they all made it out and the warehouse is destroyed. He considered this a win and wanted to go home to unwind after all of that.

"Give me a hand with this, guys." Hikari looked back to see Donnie dragging a mostly undamaged Kraangdroid without its pilot. Raph went to help Donnie while Hikari took a few small steps back. She didn't like being around it any longer than she had to. Unfortunately, Donnie had bigger plans for this empty husk.

"Reverse engineering Kraang technology?" Hikari exclaimed, "That sounds- "

"Ingenious?" Donnie said with a self-congratulatory smirk, which was undermined by the labored breathing from dragging the machine to the nearest manhole cover.

"I was going to say ridiculous." Hikari replied completely unamused, "I already gave you a good portion of Lightfurian technology to play with. Why do you want to study the Kraang's too?"

"Because your tech is specific to your kind and I can't really use it without you?"

"I don't still see why we need this hunk of junk." Raph said as he let go of the other arm of the droid, "I know how they work. You hit them till the brainy toy surprise pops out."

"That's your problem, Raph. You never think things through." Donnie said in a condescending tone, dropping the droid over the hole only to have the robot get stuck in the hole.

Raph was more than amused by this, "Was that supposed to fit?"

Donnie looked like he was going to knock Raph's head off as he stomped on the robot, desperate to get it in while Raph was enjoying the view.

Hikari had enough of their nonsense, "Step back, boys."

She then climbed up the fire escape right above them and jumped straight down off a floor, landing right on the empty droid. The force and impact of the jump was more than enough to force the limbs of the robot into the hole and the machine landed in the sewer water with a loud thud and splash.

Hikari managed to bounce off the robot before it plummeted down the hole and landed right in front of Donnie with a backflip. "If you create any energy draining weapons with this, I'll make sure every outlet and wire in your lab is fried beyond repair."

Donnie nodded nervously in response. That was enough for her and Hikari climbed down into the hole, leaving Donnie and the other turtles frozen from what just happened.

"I've never been more terrified in my life." Donnie muttered before he and his brothers went down the hole and back to the lair.

* * *

Despite Hikari's threats, Donnie was more than elated to finally have the Kraangdroid in his lab. He asked Hikari to stay and help him dismantle it, much to Hikari's discomfort. Even if she knew there was nothing in the machine to control it, just looking at its cold metal eye-lens was enough to give her chills.

"Look, just because I'm an alien doesn't mean I'm a genius." She said while Donnie worked, "I only know enough to get basic gear working."

With the speed Donnie was moving and the way his eyes never left his workstation, she knew she had better luck teaching Mikey about aerodynamics than getting Donnie to actually listen to her. Donnie just agreed in a mindless manner and put one of his self-made batteries he created in Hikari's hand, "I know, but if you could just help me power this thing up."

Hikari sighed but did as he asked. Research and tinkering with Hikari's technology didn't result to much since it did need Lightfurian energy to even activate most of it. The biggest creation Donnie made from her tech was a battery that could safety store Lightfurian energy and converted into electricity. It did help him with research and it also meant they had more than just their backup generator if they lose power.

"Here." Hikari tossed the fully charged battery and walked out of the lab.

She walked to the pit and slumped down on the couch next to April, who was on her laptop, and Mikey who was watching Leo and Raph playing against each other in one of their many fighting games.

"Sometimes I truly believe Donnie only likes me for my powers."

"That's just how he is when he's got that crazy look in his eyes." Mikey scooted closer to her and said, "Don't worry, sis. It'll blow over soon."

Hikari's mind stopped at the one word, "Sis?"

"Well yeah, you're basically living with us and we're all one big weird family." Mikey smiled, "We kinda see you as our sister. Can I call you sis?"

"Not exactly the case for all of us." Raph took a moment away from the game and smirked at Leo, which Leo responded a sharp look.

Hikari wasn't paying attention to anything other than the warm welcoming look that Michelangelo has as he asked her if she could be his sister, as if there was any chance she'd say no.

"Of course, Mikey." Hikari choked, holding back any signs of crying and petting his head in the way she knew made Mikey all happy.

Mikey, on the other hand, just curled up next to her and basked in the attention.

The peaceful moment was interrupted when Donnie came bursting out of his lab with a piece of Kraang technology in his hand.

"This technology is light-years ahead of anything I've ever seen!" He walked up to April and waved the piece in his hand, "Do you know what this is?"

"No." She answered.

"Neither do I! But I can't wait to find out!" Donnie clutched the piece to his plastron like a girl would with a love note from the TV shows that Hikari had been watching.

Master Splinter walked into the pit with a new bo staff in hand. The game round ended and Raph laughed when he noticed it.

"Look, Spike." Raph said to his pet turtle lounging beside him, "Donnie got another stick to break."

Donnie was not pleased with the remark and turned to Splinter who has his new staff out for Donnie to take, "With all due respect, sensei, I can't keep fighting alien technology with a 6-foot staff. I was hoping to upgrade my weapon."

"Mmm. A 7-foot staff. Interesting." Splinter mused.

"No, I meant using modern technology, like Hikari does."

"I want no part in this." Hikari piped in.

"Aah, a solar-powered staff."

"I'm serious, sensei." Donnie whined, much to Splinter's amusement.

"I know. And yes, you may upgrade your weapon."

"That's totally unfair! You can't just-" Donnie stopped his outburst when Splinter's words finally clicked in his head, "Wait, did you say yes?"

"Ninjas have improved their arsenal for centuries. We are masters of adaptation."

"That is great! 'Cause with this technology, I will be invincible! What should I make? Electric sais? Multi-shot shuriken? Plasma swords! I just gave myself goosebumps. You wanna feel?" Donnie stuck his arm out in front of April and Hikari was starting to wonder if they could switch out Donnie's coffee stash with decaf ones.

"Pass." April cringed before going back to her laptop.

Master Splinter stepped in to remind his son, "But remember, technology is a means, not an end. It is you who must prevail in battle, not your weapon. Combat is not a video game."

"That's it! I'll turn combat into a video game! Thanks, sensei." Donnie hugged Splinter before dashing back into his lab, fueled by the buzzing ideas and inspirations he had.

Master Splinter just looked exasperated and went back into the dojo.

Mikey and Hikari were now heavily engaged in the new match between Raph and Leo when April said from behind her laptop, "Guys! Check out this post I got."

"Hang on, April, I just have to destroy Lame-onardo." Raph said before delivering the finishing blow and ending the round with his victory. Raph relished in his victory as he received his congratulatory high-threes from Mikey and Hikari while enjoying the sour look on Leo's face.

"So, what's up?" Raph asked while Leo turned off the game console.

April showed them a video someone posted on her message board she created to track any Kraang activity that people might have noticed throughout the city. The video showed an explosion with a Kraangdroid walking out of the smoke.

"Yup, seems Kraang-y enough for me." Raph remarked.

"We'll check it out tonight." Leo agreed, already making plans in his head.

"Why not now?" April asked.

"Because it's daytime. We can't let people see us."

"Well, I can." April got up and started heading to the exit.

Leo got up as well and tried to stop her, "April, think about this. It could be dangerous."

"You know what else could be dangerous? Standing between me and my father."

April glared at Leo long enough that he relented and let April go. Hikari was not impressed by this and shot a disappointed glare at him herself before chasing after April.

"April, wait. Be reasonable about this." Hikari said after catching up to her, "What happens if the Kraang see you?"

"Come with me then."

The request made her freeze, the idea of going out there and facing the Kraang without her friends…

"April…" Hikari ducked her head in shame, "I can't. Not by myself."

April looked at Hikari, making her feel exposed and defenseless under her gaze. She said nothing more as she turned away and exited the lair. Hikari never hated herself more than she did just then.

* * *

Leo noticed Hikari's somber mood and invited her to join him for some Space Heroes. She agreed and joined him in front of the TV, not wanting to spend the hours fretting over April and kicking herself for her cowardice.

It turned out to be just the thing she needed as Leo started catching her up on the current episode. While she didn't like the show as much as Leo did, his enthusiasm for it more than enough to watch it. Leo was always so focused when he was topside, but down in their home was where Hikari truly felt Leo let go and she got to see sides of him that she might never if she had not been living with him.

She tuned out everything, her guilt, her fears. Everything to focus on this moment she's sharing with Leo.

"What a hero…" She heard Leo mutter, his face lit up with admiration for his TV role model.

Hikari couldn't help but smile. Leo definitely was the textbook definition of a dork, a sweet one who only wanted to give more than he could to the world.

Suddenly, Hikari and Leo heard a loud clank coming from Donnie's lab. Mikey, ever curious, went to check it out and saw a metal turtle walking on two legs coming out of the lab doors. Mikey was wondering what it was when it opened its mouth and said, "Take me to your leader."

Mikey's glee dropped as he called out for his big brother, "Leo, it's for you."

Leo got up to check at the weird robot, "What is that?"

Soon Raph and Hikari huddled around the robot, everyone insanely curious as Donnie walked out of his lab with his head held high.

"That is the future of ninjutsu." Donnie declared proudly.

"Always thought the next step would be a little taller." Raph said, judging the little robot that barely passed their waist.

"It's so cute." Mikey cooed as he tickled the robot's chin.

The robot didn't like it and grabbed Mikey's finger, using it to pin Mikey down.

"I should've warned you. He doesn't like to be tickled."

"Donnie, what is this?" Leo asked.

"I used the Kraangdroid along with some of Hikari's tech and energy to create this little guy."

"Ok. But why?"

"The drone can take care of the dangerous stuff while we stay out of harm's way." Donnie explained.

Neither his brothers or Hikari were pleased to hear that. Raphael was the most vocal against using Metalhead, which Mikey so helpfully named it. Leo didn't like the idea of a robot fighting their battles for them either. After all, half the thrill was the action to them. Raph called Donnie a wimp for cowering behind a robot. Donnie responds with a challenge to his family to try and take down Metalhead.

Raph gladly took up the challenge and charged straight at Metalhead, only for the robot knock him on his shell in two hits. Raph was fine. Hikari was sure that his ego was bruised more than his body.

Leo and Mikey shared a look before they tag-teamed Metalhead. It didn't work out any better as they were thrown onto the hard-cold floor, just like Raph.

Donnie was enjoying his brothers' defeats a little too much for Hikari's liking. He started gloating and waving the remote around, "I kicked your shells! And I didn't even have to use the laser cannon! Face it, guys, with this thing I'm invincible!"

"Oh yeah?" Raph got back up and snatched Donnie's controller right out of his hand.

He was a little flustered before taking the controller back from Raph, "You know what I mean."

Donnie then looked over to Hikari, the last member of the team he hadn't tested Metalhead on yet. "Your turn, Hikari."

She flinched when Metalhead turned to her as well, "Please keep it away from me."

"You're scared of it, snowflake?" Raph asked in disbelief.

She glared at Raph before the expression in her eyes changed into something more neutral and controlled, "I rather not deal with Kraang weaponry after what happen last time."

"Metalhead isn't like the weapons the Kraang used." Donnie waved off her concerns, "He's 100% turtle approved."

Leo saw how uncomfortable Hikari was and stepped in, "Look, if Hikari doesn't want to be around Metalhead then she doesn't have to be. Got it, Donnie?"

Donnie knew when he lost and relented, "Fine."

"What is this?" Master Splinter asked, coming out of his Dojo after hearing all that noise.

Donnie, ever the opportunist, took the chance, "Sensei, I was wondering if I could take Metalhead for a spin tonight."

"You may."

"That's totally unfair! You can't just- Wait, what? "

"You have created this new weapon. We must see how well it works."

"Well, that's great. Thank you, sensei."

"But it is a test only. Do not take it into combat." Master Splinter told Donnie.

Hikari just shook her head and walked back into her room. It was almost time for their patrol, and they needed to check out the location April mentioned. She was in the middle of double-checking her equipment while she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." She said, and Leo entered the room.

"Are you ok, Hikari?"

She should've known that Leo would come to check up on her, "I'm not happy, but I can be civil about it. If Donnie wants to test it, I'm not going to stop him. _But_ I'm saying it right now that if it turns on us, I'm going to say that I told you so."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Donnie's the genius, he knows what he's doing."

* * *

Leo was really starting to regret his choice of words every time he heard the loud metal clanking that shadowed their every move.

Hikari was right next to him with a knowing grin on her face. "Don't. Please." Leo said.

"I'm not saying anything." She responded coyly.

The metal clanking got louder and Metalhead was right there behind the group.

"Should we double back?" Leo asked, "I think there's a car alarm you didn't set off."

"I kinda like it." Raph said just as sarcastically, "It goes nicely with all the sirens and cries for help."

"You're just jealous that you're out in the cold and I'm eating Mikey's last slice of pizza." Donnie's satisfied tone came from Metalhead's mouth, along with a loud munching sound.

"Hey!" Mikey cried out in indignation.

Raph just slapped him across the head and leaped ahead. The team were making their way to the location when Leo put his hand out and stopped them, "Quiet, someone's coming."

They hid in the shadows and peeked over the rooftop, watching for the person to show themselves. Luckily for them, it was only April. "Guys, it's me."

Relieved, the turtles and Hikari dropped down from their hiding spots.

"Hi April." She hugged April, "I'm glad you're safe."

April smiled in response. Hikari could only hope that April forgave her for not going with her.

April looked around and noticed that the team was a turtle short, "Where's Donnie?"

Just as she asked that, Leo pulled Hikari towards him and Metalhead came crashing into the dumpsters next to them, the dumpsters then falling over to where Hikari was just standing. She gave Leo a grateful look before Leo went to get Metalhead out of the trash.

"Still stealthier than the real Donnie." Raph remarked.

April was just stunned by what just happened, "What is that thing?"

Before anyone could say a word, Metalhead opened his mouth and a loud ear-piercing screech from audio feedback came out of the speaker. Everyone covered their ears in a desperate attempt to save their hearing, while the girls dropped to their knees in pain.

The noise soon faded and Donnie's voice came out of Metalhead's mouth, "Sorry, sorry! Still trying to get used to the controls."

Everyone took a moment to recollect themselves before Raph gave the introductions, "Meet Donnie's newest 'brilliant' invention, Metalhead."

Hikari crossed her arms, "Donnie created it from a Kraangdroid, he's convinced it's going to work."

"Oh please, stop being such a negative Nancy." Donnie said, fed up with Hikari's avoidance towards Metalhead.

"I don't even know what that means."

April stopped the argument with news of her own, "Anyways, I was just looking for you. The Kraang are gonna poison the city's water supply with mutagen! The whole city will become a disaster area!"

"Think of all the friends we can make." Mikey shrunk when he noticed everyone giving him disapproving looks, "Excuse me for being a "glass-half-full" kinda guy."

"Let's go!" Donnie said before Leo stopped him.

"Donnie, I need you to hang back."

"What?"

"Metalhead is just too clumsy. It'll get in our way."

"Clumsy?" Donnie cried out as Metalhead knocked over a trash can, "I did that on purpose to emphasize my point."

"You're not coming, Donnie." With that, Leo and the others left Metalhead under April's care.

Hikari felt like the weight of that metal robot had been taken off her shoulder, but she still couldn't shake the tension in her body. She wished that she could just get over the pang of anxiety she felt when she saw the Kraang logo that was on Metalhead's face. She trusted Donnie but putting her trust in something like that was nothing alike.

Even as they made it into the warehouse, she could still hear echoes of Donnie's voice coming from Metalhead's faulty speaker. She was sure she was as annoyed as the brothers when they heard Donnie's failed attempts to get close to April again being so loudly broadcasted, especially when they were right inside the enemy's nest.

Although she wished she could say it mattered when they were spotted and realized just how outnumbered they really were.

* * *

Although Hikari gave it her all, she slowly found herself overwhelmed. She stopped trying to kill them, focusing on disarming as many as she could. She made her way back to Leo and his brothers who were looking tired as well. They were trapped and surrounded.

There were just too many. Just like in the ship.

Hikari's grip tightened on her uni-weapon as she sliced the upper torso of an incoming Kraangdroid. She could feel Leo's gaze on her, but she couldn't care right now. She needed to make sure they'd get out of this. She wasn't going to lose her family to the Kraang again.

Suddenly, they heard a loud crash. Standing among the broken glass and a crushed Kraangdroid was Metalhead… with his arms twisted in a very uncomfortable manner.

"Donnie, what are you doing? What's wrong with your arms?" Leo asked while Raph facepalmed behind him

"Are they not on my hips?"

"No!"

"Oh, forgot to press B." Metalhead corrected himself into the right pose, "There. Eat hot laser!"

Metalhead started firing laser shots that Hikari recognized as her own energy, it made quick work on a lot of the Kraangdroids and the team were mobile once again.

"Well, I stand corrected then." Hikari said as she looked over her shoulder to see Metalhead crushing enemies like he was playing a tutorial level on easy, Donnie's smug laughter being heard through the speaker.

What Donnie didn't account for, Hikari soon noticed, was how Metalhead's fighting would affect the rest of the team. Sometimes Metalhead would throw an empty Kraangdroid at one of them, forcing them to dodge and pay attention to Metalhead along with their own battles.

Metalhead even had a flamethrower that roasted the Kraang out of their robotic suits but nearly burned Mikey and some of Hikari's hair. Needless to say, they were not pleased.

"Donnie, watch the friendly fire." Leo warned him, not that Donnie was listening.

Somehow Metalhead caused an explosion that forced the team to take cover while the debris took out most of the Kraang. Things took a turn from the worse when they heard Donnie panicking as his voice started to cut out, "I lost the control signal! What's that Kraang doing? Guys! If you can hear me, you might wanna run."

"Uh-oh." Mikey muttered as the Kraang perched on Metalhead took control of him and looked over them with malice.

"Never mind." Hikari turned to Leo, "I told you so."

Kraang-Metalhead wasted no time turning all that firepower against them. He fired his laser gun at them to which Hikari jumped forward and blocked it with her energy shield from her guard.

"Using my own energy against me. That is so messed up." Hikari growled. She started aiming for the Kraang latching on Metalhead's head, but having an actual brain controlling the body made Metalhead a lot less clumsy than before. She ended up dodging lasers without landing a single hit on the exposed alien brain.

None of them could do any damage to him and the reinforcements were pouring into the room. They found themselves cornered again with Metalhead and the Kraang locked onto them, "Which one wants to be destroyed by Kraang?"

Out of nowhere, Donnie dropped into the same hole Metalhead did and stood ready with his bo staff in hand. The team let out a sigh of relief as everyone was back together again. "I'll handle Metalhead, you guys take care of the Kraang."

The team split off to take on the fight. Hikari was more than happy to give in as her whip slashed through her enemies once again. A loud crash came from the center of the room and she saw the pillars and concrete collapsing. She kicked away the empty droid and rushed over to the crash. She was relieved when she saw Donnie safe and Metalhead skewered in the chest with his bo staff.

"Booyakasha!" Donnie shouted and that was how she knew this battle was over.

"Sounds weird when he says it." Mikey pointed out.

"Sounds weird when you say it." Raph quipped back.

Hikari decided to give her opinion on it, "I like it, it's uplifting."

"That which is the revenge will be had on the Lightfury and those who are call themselves the turtles." Metalhead said before the Kraang controlling him detached and jumped onto Donnie's face. He freaked out before the Kraang scuttered away.

He then looked up to see the bright faces of Mikey, Leo, Raph and Hikari.

"Nice job, bro!"

"Way to go, Donnie."

"Yeah, not bad." Raph started, "Except for that part where you built the thing in the first place. And the part where it broke. And the part where it tried to kill us. And the part-"

"Ok, I get it." Donnie cut him off, annoyed at hearing his own failures as if he hadn't been blaming himself when he heard his little brother screaming in fear while he was sitting in front of the TV.

Leo glanced over to Hikari, wondering if she was going to rip into him about Metalhead too since she was his biggest critic. But Hikari said nothing and helped Donnie up off the ground. She punched him in the shoulder and walked ahead, figuring that was punishment enough along with everything that happened tonight.

The team made sure that the mutagen was destroyed before they head back to the lair with the turtles carrying Metalhead.

* * *

Their time back in the lair was interesting as always. Donnie tried a new invention which didn't work that well either, forcing him to put the idea on hold for more research. When it was time for bed, Donnie stepped out of his lab and knocked on Hikari's door.

Hikari was surprised to see Donnie, but Donnie started talking before she could ask, "So… I'm sorry about what happened with Metalhead."

Realizing what this was, she opened up a little, "It's fine, Donnie. You were right, knowing more about their technology helps us too. I just need to get over myself."

"Hikari, you were kidnapped and tortured by the Kraang. No one's expecting you to just get over that."

"Well, the whole Metalhead experience wasn't helping." She shrugged jokingly.

Donnie rolled his eyes but he knew he deserved it. He sighed, "I tried so hard to make something useful, and it blew up in my face."

"So? You've wired up an abandoned area of the sewers into a home with nothing but scraps from junkyards. Metalhead is one failure. No one learns to fly in one go. That's why we have beginner ships." Donnie was confused what a beginner ship was but Hikari continued, "I trusted you with my technology, I know you're going to make great things out of it. And if you want help with Metalhead, I'd gladly be your assistant."

"I thought you hated Metalhead."

"It'll be easier to get used to him now that he's deactivated." She paused, "Baby steps."

"Baby steps." They nodded and she went back into her room.

As Donnie turned to head to his room, he was pulled into another room without a chance to fight back. "Gah! Leo? What are you doing?"

"Team meeting."

Leo was just standing there, even in darkness Donnie could see the worry etched on his face.

"Where's Raph and Mikey?"

"I really don't want to get them involved in this." Leo winced, "It's about Hikari. I'm worried about her mental state."

"Why?"

"You didn't see the way she was fighting the Kraang before Metalhead came crashing in. It was intense, even more than Raph usually was."

"So what? You were fighting for your lives."

Leo looked conflicted with his next words but then defeated as he continued, "Hikari told Raph that she tried to pull off a suicide move to destroy the Kraang on her ship."

"That's…" Insane? Ridiculous? What could Donnie say after hearing that the girl they had gotten so close to might be hurting in a way they never considered?

Leo seemed to understand Donnie's stunned silence and pushed on, "If that's the state she was in when she was captured, who knows what's going through her head now?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're gonna know more about this than I do and I can't do this alone."

It made sense to Donnie but he didn't feel any more qualified than Leo right now. "What should we do?"

"We don't say a word about this to anyone, not April, not Mikey or Raph or Sensei. We keep a close eye on her and try to keep her away from the Kraang."

"Wouldn't she notice if we suddenly stopping her from fighting?"

"I'm not saying we stop her from fighting, we're just looking out for her. Besides, it's for her own good."

"Because those words always make everything alright." Donnie scoffed, but any objections he had slipped away when he saw how torn up Leo was about this. "I really hope you're wrong about this, Leo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leo is starting to suspect something. It was only a matter of time before someone noticed something. What do you guys think about Hikari and what's she's going through? I'd love to hear what you guys have to say.
> 
> This story has taken a life of its own and I'm kinda surprised with how dark it's turning. Don't get me wrong, it's still gonna be lighthearted and comedy. But I'm really started to love where the story is taking me. Thank you so much for the people following my story, it's so awesome to see some support and I hope that you're all enjoying it.
> 
> I also decided to shuffle around with the order into what fits my narrative best, so don't be surprised if you see more episodes out of order.


	5. The Magic of Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We interrupt this plot for a brief moment of fluff and fun.

Hikari was spending some time with April in her home. As much as she loved hanging around the turtles, she didn't feel like sticking around when she saw Mikey smuggling green slime and gumballs into the lair with that mischievous grin. It still gave her flashbacks to the day she collapsed onto her bed after a tough training session, only to smell the rotten eggs Mikey had hid under her blanket. They all had to go to the junkyard before the sun rose to find replacements.

They were watching a Horror movie marathon that was running since Halloween was only a few days away. Hikari knew of the word and the holiday, because of Mikey, but not why it was so popular. "April, why are people making such a big deal out of Halloween? It is just a day where people do spooky stuff."

April looked at Hikari in disbelief, "Halloween is the best, besides Christmas. You get to dress up as whatever you want and you get free candy from trick or treating."

"Whatever I want?" Hikari blinked, "Even if it's not normal?"

"Halloween is celebrating the weird and supernatural. People love getting scared or freaked out this time of year."

"Now I see why Mikey likes Halloween so much."

The two girls laughed until April mentioned, "You know, they never got the chance to celebrate it either. Why don't we all do it together this year?"

Hikari thought about it and smiled, it had been stressful for the past few days. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

They headed over to the lair after the movie ended. To say that they were stunned when Hikari mentioned their idea was an understatement

"You're going up to the surface for Halloween?" Mikey asked with stars in his eyes, "I wanna go too!"

"Calm down, Mikey." April said, "That's what we wanted to ask you guys."

Mikey then asked Hikari, "Can we get costumes too?"

"If Sensei says yes, sure."

Mikey looked like he had more to say, but Master Splinter came out and had a few questions himself. "Leonardo mentioned that you all wanted to go to the surface this Halloween."

"It'll be perfectly fine." April quickly reassured him, "Everyone'll be in costume and no one will even bother them."

The teens waited with bated breaths as Master Splinter stood there thinking and stroking his beard. After a while, Splinter finally said, "As long as you don't draw attention to yourselves on the surface, then you may go."

"Yes!"

"This is gonna be so cool!"

"What are we gonna wear?"

April helped with Donnie's question, "I still have to get my Halloween costume and Hikari asked me to help with hers. If you want, I get some stuff for you guys to make your own costumes."

"Thanks, April." Mikey hugged both girls before running into his room, presumably to design his costume. The others just shrugged and went about their day.

Hikari couldn't help but wonder about what Mikey's costume might end up being. Mikey's imagination has always been a valley of extremes, she never knew what to expect when he set his mind on something.

Though she wished she expected the gumballs on the kitchen floor or the tub of green goo that was set to drop on whoever slipped and grabbed onto the cabinet door. She groaned and shrieked Mikey's name in anger.

This was going to take forever to wash off.

* * *

The next day, Hikari met up with April again after she got the lists of requests from the turtles other than Raph. He was too lazy to come up with a costume and passed it onto Mikey. The girls were now at the mall where Hikari was stunned by the amount of people packed in that one building. Humans no longer set her on edge after spending time on the surface with April, but she'd never seen so many at once like this.

They arrived at a costume store, which was packed with little children and parents trying to dress their little ones. Hikari took one look around the store, overwhelmed by the vast displays of costumes and selections. "Wow… I didn't think there'd be so many options."

"Like I said, people love Halloween." April said as the two walked over to a display wall, "So, what do you have in mind? Classic monster? Alien costume? I know Leo would _love_ it if you showed up in a Space Heroes uniform."

April picked up a costume pack that had a very questionable version of the Space Heroes uniform she had seen on the show. The outfit itself was much more revealing than it was on Captain Ryan's crew. The skirt looked like it barely passed the model's thighs and the tight vinyl made the outfit look very uncomfortable to be in. She didn't even remember seeing that much of Celeste's breasts when she wore it.

"I think he'd prefer a more appropriate version for himself." Hikari felt her skin glowing pink at April's words. April had made sure that she caught up on a lot of teen drama movies and she definitely understood more human social cues than before.

"Besides, I don't really want to go the sci-fi route." Hikari squirmed as she thought about it, "It's a little weird to dress up as an 'alien'."

"Right! My bad." April quickly put the sexy Space Heroes costume back on the hook, "There are costumes based on movie characters too, maybe you'll like some of them."

They walked over to another section and sure enough, there were more outfits of characters Hikari was more familiar with.

"I'm gonna go look for something myself. Let's meet at the door in 20 minutes." April waved as she went to browse on her own.

Hikari took some time to look for her own costume. Along the way, she had found a girly pink magical girl costume with a longbow, a suit of fantastical armor with a giant key as the sword, and a dress with a red hood and a plastic mechanical-looking scythe. So far, Hikari was leaning more towards the other two.

Suddenly, she heard an excited voice coming towards her. She turned and saw a little girl in a blue dress and a pink bow headband in her short blonde hair. The girl pointed to Hikari and said, "Daddy, look! It's Elsa!"

A man, Hikari assumed is the girl's father, called out from within the sea of people, "Chloe, wait for me!"

"Hi, are you Elsa?" The girl looked at Hikari with wide innocent eyes.

"Chloe, what did we say about running off like that?" Her father showed up and pulled his daughter over before apologizing to Hikari, "Sorry, miss. You just look a lot like one of her favorite characters."

"Elsa?"

The man chuckled at her clueless expression, "Yeah. I guess you've been lucky enough to avoid the whole thing."

The man pointed to an Elsa costume pack and Hikari took a closer look at the picture on it, "Huh, she does look like me."

Hikari could see the resemblance. Although her straw-colored hair was slightly darker than Elsa's, the hairstyle matched. Her silver eyes looked pale enough to look like Elsa's ice blue ones. Hikari even had the same pale skin and round face shape as this cartoon character.

"Are you gonna be her?" Chloe asked, "We can match!"

Hikari was confused once again and looked to Chloe's father for some clues.

"Elsa has a sister in the movie named Anna, that's what little Chloe wants to be this year." He explains, ruffling his daughter's hair fondly.

Seeing the hopeful look in Chloe's eyes and the warm happiness she gave off made her decision for her, "You know what, you just helped me decide on my costume. Thank you, Chloe. Maybe I'll see you on Halloween."

"Bye, Miss Elsa!" Chloe waved in the big and sincere way only children could. Hikari smiled as she walked away with the Elsa costume pack in hand. Now that she had her costume dealt with, she needed to pick up what the others asked for.

The girls met up again with materials for the turtles and a costume pack each for themselves. Hikari dropped the handful of fabric and a giant bag of sponge onto the conveyor belt for checkout, "I got some of the things on their lists. I still haven't figured out Mikey's costume."

"You and me both."

"Did you find something?"

"Uh-huh." April nodded eagerly before showing off her costume pack, "Check it out!"

Hikari took one look at it before she started laughing far too loudly for a public area, "I can't believe this exists, the guys are going to have a riot over this."

April gave a sly grin, "I know. What about you?"

Hikari showed her the Elsa costume pack, making her look at Hikari with confusion and a hint of annoyance. "Really?" April asked.

"I did promise a little girl."

* * *

Something that shouldn't surprise Hikari was how handy the turtles were, despite being sheltered for most of their lives. Once the girls gave them the material they asked for, it only took Leo, Mikey, and Donnie a little over 24 hours to show up with fitting quality costumes.

Leo walked out of his room after putting on his Captain Ryan costume, looking confident and proud of his handiwork as he entered the pit where Hikari and Donnie were waiting. Donnie chose to be a bard and went full medieval with it. He had the hat with the feather on it, the balloon pants and even a lyre to complete the look.

"Looking mighty fine, Captain Ryan." Hikari said as she looked over Leo's costume. Even though it was simple at first glance, she could see the amount of work he did to make it as accurate as possible.

"T-Thanks! It's turned out better than I thought." Leo rubbed the back of his head, being mindful of his wig, "You look amazing too."

Hikari beamed at the compliment. Although she knew she looked like the character, putting on the dress only made it more obvious. She decided to commit to the character by watching the movie she was from, and spending time recreating Elsa's makeup. She was very pleased with how it all came together and hearing Leo say that just made her efforts worth it.

Just then, Mikey came waddling down in his costume. The others didn't know what to make of it and just stared at him. Mikey was wearing a giant yellow thing that looked like a sponge wearing a suit with eyes that took up most of its face, while Mikey's face was in its wide smiling mouth.

"What on Earth are you supposed to be, Mikey?" Leo asked him.

"Dudes, I'm a giant living sponge!" Mikey exclaimed with a jump and jazz hands.

Hikari just looked at Leo, "He's your brother."

"Where's Raph?" Donnie asked. Mikey was already giggling behind his hand.

Somehow hearing this from his room, Raph shouted angrily, "I'm not going out there like this!"

Exasperated, Hikari walked over to Raph's door and knocked on it, "Yes, you are. Now come on, April's waiting for us."

"Fine, I just won't wear it."

"Mikey worked way too hard on that for you to leave it now."

"You can't make me." Hikari could see Raph folding his arms and pouting like a petulant child as he said that.

"Fine." Hikari said with a tone in her voice, "I guess I'll have to tell Master Splinter what really happened to his-"

Before she could finish, she stepped back with a smug grin as the door swung open and Raph was scowling at her.

"You're evil." Raph said with an accusatory finger pointing right at her, "I hate you, and a little proud of you, but right now I hate you."

"Really feeling the love there, Raph." Hikari giggled as she skipped down to the others, waiting for Raph to join them.

Raph stomped out of his room wearing his costume, looking like he was ready to kill each and every one of them for making him do this. Too bad Hikari and his brothers were too busy laughing at him to feel the threat. Leo was leaning on Hikari's shoulder for support while Mikey was fully blown laughing on his shell.

"It's even better than I imagined." Mikey said in-between his laughter, wiping off a tear.

Raph only got angrier as he tightened his fist around his fairy wand. Mikey took it upon himself to humiliate Raph as much as he could this Halloween and made Raph a pink fairy princess outfit. The dress he was wearing had carefully designed lines of glitter glue and the tutu on the bottom of the dress was sparkling under the lights. Mikey even got the girls to find him a pair of pink fairy wings and a tiara to match. Although his own costume was pretty awesome, Mikey felt that Raph's was his greatest creation yet.

"You asked Mikey to make your costume, I don't know what you were expecting." Leo said after he finally stopped laughing.

Raph looked like he was ready to punch Leo for that so Hikari stepped in, "It's only for tonight, let's go."

With that, they all left the lair and soon popped out of the familiar manhole by April's apartment. April was already waiting for them since they decided to meet her there. Her reactions for the team's costumes ranged from impressed to perplexed, then she saw Raph's costume and her jaw dropped.

"Don't." Hikari whispered to her, "I had to blackmail him to come out like this."

April choked back on her laughter and calmed herself down enough not to get on Raph's nerves tonight. "You guys look great!"

The turtles finally looked at April and they were caught off guard by what she was wearing. Raph was the one to actually ask, "What are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a ninja turtle! Pretty cool, right?" April crossed her arms and tried for a cool edgy pose. Her costume was very well made, looking eerily similar to the actual turtles standing in front of her. She didn't have any weapons since she didn't know which to pick for herself. The one thing on this costume that made it April's was the yellow mask she was wearing.

Raph was getting angry again after hearing that, "There are ninja turtle costumes?! Why did I have to wear this piece of-"

"Raph." Hikari reminded him, "Only for tonight."

"How do these things even exist?" Leo wondered. It was a little concerning that someone made costumes so similar to them when the turtles' very existence was hidden from the human world.

April just shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"I think you look great, April." Donnie said, blushing as he imagined how it would be like if April really was just like them, "Yellow is definitely your color."

"Thanks Donnie." April smiled and handed them some plastic pumpkins, "Now that we're all here, let's go knock on some doors."

The turtles peeked around the building onto the streets. There were a lot of kids and teenagers walking about, all of them in some kind of costume. Hikari and April looked back at them, waiting for them to feel comfortable enough to walk with them. They left the shadows and went along with the girls who were approaching their first house. April knocked on the door and a middle-aged woman with curlers in her hair opened the door.

"Trick or treat!" They all said with their pumpkins out.

The woman sighed and dropped a candy piece each into their pumpkins. "Stay in school, kids." She muttered before shutting the door.

April flinched at the rough reception. She turned to her friends, worried that it'd affect them. Instead, she saw the turtles and Hikari staring into their pumpkins.

"The stories were true…" Leo whispered.

"And no one's even looking at us." Donnie continued.

"Most of us." Raph muttered as he felt whispers and fingers pointed towards Hikari for her Elsa costume and himself for obvious reasons.

"This is gonna be the best night ever!" Mikey cheered as he jumped down onto the sidewalk.

"Who's up for a friendly competition?" Leo proposed, "The one with the most candy by the end of the night wins. No stealing from other kids or their homes."

"Aww." Raph sagged.

Hikari's eyes lit up and she grinned, "You're on."

* * *

They decided that it wouldn't be fair if they all trick-or-treated in the same area, so they each split off into different neighborhoods to try their luck. Hikari already had a good load thanks to her outfit. People really liked it and it worked well in her favor since they usually dropped a few more for her.

As she was counting the candy in her pumpkin, she heard a familiar voice. "Miss Elsa!"

"Chloe?" Hikari turned around to see Chloe with her father, "Wow, your costume looks amazing."

Chloe was dressed as Anna, just like her father said. She was wearing the ballgown that Anna wore at the beginning of the movie. Her blonde hair tied up with a green ribbon, and she was wearing bright red lipstick.

"Thank you, Miss Elsa. You look just like her…"

"Who's to say I'm not a little… Magical too?" Hikari winked and twirled her fingers around a little, making little snowflakes dance just above her fingertips.

"Woah…" Chloe looked at her in awe, wondering how Hikari did that.

She was happy to get the response, she had been working on it just for her. While the others were making their costumes, Hikari made little light projectors that she hid in the sleeves of her dress, giving the illusion that she created snow just like Elsa did in the movie.

"Just keep it between us. Alright, Anna?" Hikari winked, putting out her pinky like she saw before.

Chloe hooked her pinkie on Hikari's and nodded, "Ok, Miss Elsa."

Of course, Chloe told her father about it right away. Her father seemed surprised when Chloe mentioned the snowflakes. Hikari winked at him and shook her hand at him, a subtle gesture to tell him about the illusion. He just smiled and walked away with his daughter who was still going on about how she met a real magical princess.

Making that little girl's Halloween made Hikari feel even better. She was on cloud nine as she continued her quest. She was surprised to see April since she thought April had gone to the other side of the block to trick-or-treat.

The two girls met up and started walking together. "How're you doing on your count, April?"

"Pretty good, but I don't think it's any compared to yours."

"I didn't think that many people liked this character. There were kids sharing their candies with me too." Hikari couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when she showed them up, "I got this in the bag."

April nodded before slowing down her pace, "Hey, look over there."

Hikari stopped and looked over to the alleyway April was pointing at, it was dark but she didn't see or sense anyone there.

"I don't think there's someone-" Hikari jolted when she felt the plastic pumpkin snatched from her hand, "April?!"

"Sorry, Hikari." She heard April shout as she dashed past the crowd.

Hikari cursed once she realized what had happened, "Oh, that's how we're playing it."

She wondered how she was going to catch up again now that she was starting from nothing, when she noticed a couple of kids staring at her. Hikari grinned as a plan formed, she crouched down the kids and started singing, "Hey kids… Do you wanna build a snowman~?"

* * *

The turtles and April reconvened at the alleyway they started at. Each one sharing stories about their night. Leo, Donnie and Mikey had a great time while Raph was more focused on the contest than interacting with people. Even if he was in the stupid fairy costume, he still enjoyed a night of not having to hide or care on the surface.

"I can't believe how many Space Heroes fans there are in New York, I already have at least five new fan theories I need to look into." Leo was rambling excitedly about all the Space Heroes fans he had met. He wasn't the only one dressed as someone from the show, or even Captain Ryan. Raph groaned, he knew that Leo's obsession with the show would even worse now.

"I love Halloween! Everyone was so nice except that one kid." Mikey had a great night from his story. Apparently, people really liked his weird sponge outfit and kids wanted to keep hugging him, it was really weird. But it became unbelievable when Mikey said that a brat wanted to kidnap him and take him home as a personal best friend.

Donnie enjoyed his night out without having to hide or get screamed at. It gave him a chance to look around New York on a ground level and he already had ideas in mind for inventions thanks to their surreal and creative nature of Halloween.

Raph just spent the night doing trick-or-treating and swiping candy from his brothers when they weren't paying attention. Even if there wasn't going to be any action tonight, that didn't mean Raph wasn't gonna use his ninja skills or mess with his brothers.

After waiting 10 minutes past their agreed meeting time, Donnie asked, "Where's Hikari?"

Just then, Hikari showed up with a plumped pillowcase she was carrying on her back. "Hey, guys." She said as she dropped the pillowcase, revealing that it was filled with candy.

The others were amazed at the amount of candy she collected, especially April who was just behind Raph with the candy she took from Hikari earlier.

"Where did you get all of this?"

"I got some help."

"How?" Raph asked, unable to comprehend his defeat.

"The magic of Disney." Hikari smirked as she tipped Raph's tiara down to his eyes, "I win."

* * *

Master Splinter walked down of the dojo, hoping to enjoy a little TV now that his sons and Hikari should be asleep. He didn't expect to see them sprawled across the pit surrounded by candy wrappers.

"Ugh…So much candy." Leo moaned as his head fell onto one of the pillows on the couch,

"Best. Halloween. Ever." Mikey's muffled voice cheered in an exhausted and sick tone as his arms dropped, passing out on the beanbag chair and on his plastron.

Master Splinter sighed as he regarded the children fondly. Tomorrow was going to be painful for them with their daily training, but it looked like they thoroughly enjoyed themselves tonight. In a world where the surface would never accept them as they were, he was happy that his children got to experience something normal for a change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? I can't post a Halloween chapter when it's almost December? Says who, voice in my head! Since it is canonically one month after the turtle's mutation day, that would make this the end of October. I'll be skipping thanksgiving because I honestly don't know what to write for them about that holiday but expect a Christmas chapter down the line.
> 
> After I came up with the look of Hikari, I quickly realized how similar she looked to Elsa. It was funny because Hikari's appearance was based on Elyon Brown from W.I.T.C.H. Since Frozen 2 is now out, I decided to just embrace it and have fun with it. I'll let you decide how she got all that candy XD
> 
> If you haven't noticed, I love a lot of shows and I like slipping references whenever I can. I'll be impressed if someone can name all. The Halloween costumes that the cast are wearing comes from the game Trick or Treat Tussle.
> 
> The story is getting noticed slightly and that warms my heart. I'll make you guys a deal. If this gets 5 comments by the end of the day, I'll publish the next chapter right away.


	6. New Friends, Old Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in the beginning of November
> 
> Also slight possible spoilers for Kimi No Na wa (Your Name)

Things were a little calmer after their last encounter with the Kraang. There had been no major reports on them, so they took it easy by casually patrolling the city and stopping smaller crimes. It worked really well to Leo and Donnie's plan to watch over Hikari since she wasn't getting into contact with any Kraang.

They were playing on the rooftops as they bounced from building to building, performing vaults and backflips as the cold New York air brushed their skins. Donnie saw an opportunity and took it, "Check it out!"

Donnie jumped straight across the gap and rolled into a landing on the building below them.

Mikey saw this and went along, gaining momentum by jumping on a small water tower before launching himself over the gap with a roll landing himself. Donnie was pleased and applauded his little brother's attempt.

"Beat that, turtle chumps." Mikey goaded Leo, Raph and Hikari while catching his breath. Donnie on the other hand just bowed at them, daring them to one-up Mikey and himself.

"Amateurs." Hikari chuckled, she knew a good challenge when she saw one.

"Ladies first." Raph stepped back with a hand sweep and Leo did the same.

Hikari smirked as she went back and got a running start. She dashed to the edge of the building before jumping with her arms spread out. She dropped down to the rooftop right below her and doing a front handspring. She was in the air again and did a quick front flip before reaching the other side, going into a few rolls and ending on a handstand. Donnie and Mikey gave her a little cheer before the three of them looked over to the other two, watching the challenger take the stage.

Leo was already planning it, grinning as he started stepping back, "Alright guys, check this out."

Leo went above and below by starting with three handsprings and using the force to push himself over the gap, going into a front flip and another handspring to catch himself on the other side, he ended his performance with a side flip with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Mikey and Donnie were impressed but none was more impressed than Hikari was. "Tough act to beat."

Leo felt himself stand a little taller after that. Then the four of them stood and watched Raph as he started getting a headstart too. But they soon realized that Raph was just going to charge at them head on, neither of them had time to dodge before Raph crashed into all of them. They laughed as they untangled themselves from the pile, "What was that? You didn't do any flips."

"Oops." Raph said, sounding as unapologetic as ever.

Suddenly, the team sensed something close by. Leo moved quickly, taking cover behind a wall as his team followed. He reached back and unsheathed his katanas, ready for a fight. Raph pulled out his sais and got into position, Mikey and Donnie had their weapons in hand, while Hikari has her hand on her uni-weapon to be activated.

The team ran out with their weapons armed and ready, only to see the big yellow eyes of a little kitten looking back at them. Leo felt thoroughly mortified for overreacting like that and Raph's comment didn't help.

"Don't give up Leo, you might actually win this fight."

Mikey and Hikari pushed Leo aside as they approached the kitten. "Aww, it's a little kitty." Mikey cooed, picking it up and playing with it.

"I've seen these things in those videos April showed me, they're so adorable." Hikari felt her heart melt as she watched Mikey and the kitten play.

"And it's name is-" Mikey squinted to read the name tag on the kitten before they heard another voice.

"Mittens?"

"Good guess." Mikey mused before looking up and around, "Wait, who said that?"

"Mikey, look." Hikari pointed to a young man in white who seemed to be looking for something, "I think that's the owner."

"Mittens?" The man called out again, confirming the statement.

Mikey started heading towards the man, only for his brothers to stop him.

"What" Mikey asked him irritably, "I'm returning Mitten to her owner."

"Are you an idiot?" Raph then paused, "Wait, let me rephrase that. You're an idiot."

"Mikey, you can't show yourself to a human." Donnie said in an exasperated way that been using every time this topic came up.

"Why not?"

"Because they'll freak the heck out, that's why not!"

"No, they won't. I'm not so scary."

"You're an ugly green mutant with ninja weapons." Raph pointed out.

Hikari winced a little when she heard that. While the turtles were weird at first, she hardly saw themselves as lowly as the humans saw them or how they viewed themselves. It was sad to hear her friends put themselves down like that in such a serious manner.

"Why don't you let me return the kitten?" Hikari reached for the kitten, "I look human enough that they probably won't react to me."

Mikey stepped back and held the kitten close, "Hikari, dudes, it's gonna be fine. This guy's gonna see that I'm just a regular cat loving dude like him. Next thing you know, we'll be best buds. This is gonna be awesome."

Mikey leapt off to the other building, ignoring the protests of his older brothers. They could only watch as Mikey approached the man.

"I'm really worried for Mikey." Hikari said

"That makes one of us." Raph remarked, knowing exactly how this was going to go down.

They flinched when they heard the man shout, "AHH! Ugly green mutant freak!"

"Yup." Raph sighed in frustration, "And three…"

"But I got your cat!"

"Two…"

"Help, he's got my cat!"

"Dude, chill! I'm just- AHHH!" Hikari shrunk back as she watched the docile kitten turn and attack Mikey.

"One." Just as Raph finished, Mikey fell off the fire escape and into the dumpster below. Raph facepalmed and the others just looked defeated.

"Alright, let's go get 'im" Leo said as he and the rest jumped down to fetch Mikey.

They dropped down to Mikey who looked fine, if they didn't count the vicious kitten on his shell scratching him. "Someone wanna help me with this?" He asked meekly.

His brothers just "No."

"Boys." Hikari muttered as she stepped over to the kitten on Mikey's back, "Shh… It's ok. Let go of Mikey please, Mittens."

Mittens looked at Hikari, seeing a calm face, and stopped attacking Mikey. She picked her off his shell and stroked her fur.

Mikey who had been convinced that the cat had turned evil, looked at the scene in disbelief, "What?"

She just rolled her eyes and left with the cat in her arms. "I'll go return Mittens."

Hikari returned to the building she saw the man in earlier and found the right apartment, "Excuse me sir, I think this cat belongs to you."

"Oh Mittens!" The man hugged Mittens lovingly before turning to Hikari, "Thank you for saving her from that freak."

She had to bite down every curse word she ever heard Raph say, trying to remain civil in front of an ignorant and thoughtless human.

"Yes. Well that 'freak is gone now. Good night." She walked away with a forced smile, only dropping it when she was out of the building. "The nerve of some people."

As she returned to the turtles, she saw Mikey doing some odd arm movements and kicks for his brothers. "But don't tell anyone you saw that." She heard him say.

"No problem." Leo replied and the others look so finished with Mikey's shenanigans for the night.

"I just returned the cat to the most ungrateful person I've met yet." Hikari walked over to check on Mikey, petting his head like always, "How are you feeling, Mikey?"

"Much better now." He muttered as he leaned into her touch. The one thing he loved about Hikari living with them was the amount of attention she gave him and his brothers, but mostly him.

She smiled as she stopped and turned to the others, "So what were you talking about?"

"Mikey thinks that guy is his new soulmate." Raph pointed to a billboard standing off in the distance.

"Who is that?"

"Chris Bradford. Only the coolest and best martial arts master ever!" Mikey exclaimed.

"I thought Splinter was the best martial arts master ever."

"Well yeah. But Bradford's got his own show and his own brand."

"And that's exactly why he's never gonna be your friend." Raph said, "Face it, Mikey. Chris Bradford is the person on Earth who'd be friends with you. Well, tied for last with everyone else on Earth."

Just then, they noticed people in black ninja outfits jumping down from the rooftops and surrounding them

"Ninjas in New York?" Donnie mused, "Other than us?"

The ninjas didn't waste any more time and pulled out their weapons, charging right at them. The turtles were matching them blow for blow, facing the challenge head-on and knocking a number of them out. Raph was deflecting blows when he ended up shell-to-shell with Leo, who had a grin on his face.

"Why are you so happy?" He asked while his sais stopped another attack before he pushed the ninja away.

"It's just nice to be fighting people. Instead of robots, or aliens, or weed monsters." Leo replied casually as if his katanas weren't stopping weapons aiming and swinging at him.

Meanwhile, Hikari was struggling with her first battle with humans, attacking while trying to keep her distance from them. Fighting these ninjas was very different from fighting the Kraang. Hikari had to hold back a lot because she was worried about breaking them. She didn't know whether or not they could take a hit like what she would use against the turtles during their sparring matches or the Kraang when she was taking them down. She was unable to fully match their speed and technique. So, she mostly used her whip to throw the ninjas into one another or to disarm them before pulling them close to knocking them out of commission.

She felt someone watching over them, observing their every move like a game. The team looked to see a tall shadow wearing stark red clothing and a metal helmet and mask on his head. He stood there like he was the master overseeing everything, just the confidence in that stance made Hikari irritated and intimidated.

The masked man dropped from the shadows. Before either of them could see it, the man made his move and punched Leo in the face, knocking him into the wall behind him.

"Leo!" Hikari shouted, then looked at the attacker with fury in her eyes. She immediately cracked down her whip onto his arm, wrapping the whip around his forearm and pulling it back to give the others an opening. But that didn't happen. The man stood his ground with his arm curled in to fight against her. Even with her full strength, she couldn't move him.

The man counterattacked by swinging his arm back, disorienting her and slamming her against the wall too.

Raph charged the man with no effect. He just kicked Raph in the chest and Raph barely blocked it in time before collapsing in front of Donnie like a piece of domino. Donnie ran at him and swung his staff, only for the man to catch it and use it to fling Donnie to the wall as well.

Mikey's fist tensed around his nunchucks, activating it into a kusarigama and tried doing the same thing Hikari did. It ended the same way with Mikey being his grasp "What are you?" The man asked.

Mikey pulled out of his grip and tried putting some distance between him and his attacker. The masked man grabbed the chain and pulled on it, stopping Mikey from moving. Leo jumped in with his katana, cleaving the chain. Mikey was free and got into formation with Leo.

Hikari recovered and joined Raph and Donnie who were standing in front of Mikey protectively. Before either party could make another move, the sound of police sirens blared down the streets.

The man and his ninjas left the alleyway and disappeared into the night. The team was stunned until they saw blue and red lights flashing and they quickly disappeared into the sewers.

* * *

The team made it back with their bodies and ego bruised. Neither of them was happy to come home defeated and lick their wounds. Hikari was in the kitchen with Leo as he gave his account of the incident to Master Splinter, "Their leader was crazy good, by which I mean he was good and seemed a little crazy. Besides, he had all these guys with him. It wasn't a fair fight."

"What do you mean 'fair fight'?" Master Splinter questioned him.

"A fair fight, you know? Where either side could win?"

"So, a fair fight is a fight you could lose." He started walking towards Leo. Hikari winced preemptively, she had an idea of where this was going.

"Well…Yes but- Well what I mean is-" Leo stammered as he tried to explain himself.

"You don't want to assure your victory?"

"No, I do but-" Leo's speech cut off with a yelp as Master Splinter tripped him with his jade cane and used said cane to pin Leo to the ground.

"Hey!" Leo cried with indignation.

"Was that fair?" Master Splinter asked.

"No!"

"Did I win?"

Leo paused before conceding, "I see your point."

"Seek victory, not fairness." With that, Master Splinter got up off the ground and freed Leo.

"Hai sensei."

Master Splinter helped Leo off the floor, only for Leo to be greeted by Hikari snickering at him, "Thanks a lot for helping, Hikari."

"You were handling yourself fine, Leo." She said and handed him his cup filled with hot tea, "Here, I think I got it right this time."

After Hikari pointed out how often Leo drinks his tea, she made a bet saying that she could make his tea just by watching him do it. Every attempt so far, Leo had told her that she didn't get it exactly right.

Leo took the cup and took a sip of it, enjoying the warmth going down his throat. As always, Hikari got it just right. Not that he'd tell her, he didn't know if she'd stop making it after proving her point.

He noticed Hikari going back to the table and picking up her own steaming mug, "I thought you didn't drink tea."

"Milk tea's pretty good." She smiled as she took a sip of her own.

"That's not real tea and you know it."

"Well just because I don't drink it doesn't mean you don't. I think we all need let loose a little after that."

They both finished their drinks and headed over to the pit where everyone else was relaxing. Raph was doing pushups with his sais, Donnie was on his laptop while Mikey was reading a magazine on a beanbag chair. April came over and was sitting on the couch with a newspaper in hand.

"Oh man, I wish me and Chris Bradford were friends." Mikey said, eagerly chomping on his magazine and giggling. Hikari decided not to ask Mikey about it and joined April on the couch. She learned her lesson last time when she asked Mikey why their toys have mismatched heads.

"Mikey, you already have friends." April pointed out, "Me and Hikari?"

"You two don't count. Hikari isn't human, plus we saved you so you have to like us."

"I think you're putting too much emphasis on the wrong thing, Mikey." Hikari crossed her arms, a little wounded by what Mikey said.

Raph held his position as he started ripping into Mikey, "Well, it's too bad there aren't places for freaks to meet people without seeing how hideous they are."

"Wait, there is. The internet." April turned to Donnie, "Donnie, can I see your laptop?"

"S-Sure, just a sec." Hikari noticed Donnie's awkward smile that he had whenever he wanted to hide something from April before he walked over and handing the laptop to her.

April took it and opened a webpage called MyFace, "Check it out, it's a site where you can make friends with anyone online."

"Sweet!" Mikey pushed April, and by proxy Hikari, aside as he took control of the laptop, "Chris Bradford is on here, he'll be my first friend!"

Mikey typed a few keys and sent Chris Bradford a friend request, before staring at the screen wide-eyed and patient.

April smiled at Mikey's naivety and explained, "Mikey, people don't always respond immedia-" A ping cut her off and the others looked at the laptop in shock, "But sometimes they do."

"No way. Chris Bradford has accepted my friendship! I have a friend! Thanks, April." Mikey jumped as he threw Donnie's laptop into the air and gave April a hug, much to Donnie's dismay.

Donnie didn't get to protest as he dove just in time to catch his laptop. "Where are you going?" He asked while Mikey was heading for the exit.

"To hang out with my _friend_ , Chris Bradford."

"This guy's famous." April hated to crush Mikey's dream but she had to let him know, "He probably has thousands of 'friends'."

"And guess who's number 5286?"

"You?"

"Daniel Ramirez! And I'm right next to him." Mikey jumped over the turnstile and left the lair, "Later."

"This should be interesting." April sighed.

Hikari was worried about how quickly Mikey was taken with Chris Bradford, "Should we go after him?"

"Nah. He's gotta learn somehow." Raph answered, returning to his push-ups.

"Oh." April grabbed her backpack and pulled out a DVD case, "By the way, I was thinking we'd watch this one for our next movie."

"What's this?" Hikari asked as she examined the picture on it.

It was quite simple compared to the graphically packed covers of the comic books the turtles had shown her, just the picture of a cartoon boy and girl on each side looking at each other with the title in the middle of the art.

"It's this anime movie I've heard about. It's about a boy and a girl who switched bodies with each other and start falling for each other over time."

Raph just scoffed when he heard April's explanation, "Tch, girls."

"Is that supposed to be romantic?" Hikari inquired with a head tilt.

Romance on Earth was still confusing to her. She noticed that humans in the movies usually tripped or acted stupid when they are in front of the person they desire, but she never understood why that was considered attractive. The idea that switching bodies was a way to develop feelings for each other was definitely a new one.

"Not from the premise." April said, "But I heard it's amazing."

They decided to watch the movie since there wasn't much they could do now. Raph and Donnie didn't care for it and each went away to work on their own things. Donnie disappearing into the lab and Raph continuing his workout in his room.

Both girls were heavily invested in the movie as the two teenagers lived each other's lives and learned more about each other through their times as each other as well as their shared experiences. Hikari felt tears forming in her eyes as the couple met face to face for the first time, and the genuine joy these characters felt after being able to talk to each other. The climax of the film gripped her heart, she felt like the girl running down the streets to save her village and change her destiny. She didn't even realize that her cheeks were wet when the couple finally met again after everything they had gone through, free to finally be together.

After the movie ended, Hikari sat in silence before opening her mouth, "Wow… is this what romance on Earth is like?"

It was nothing like the other shows or movies she had seen, the connection that the couple share in this one felt so sincere and real…

"Not exactly. It's definitely more supernatural, but the sentiment is there." April let out a wistful sigh, yearning for the same kind of connection.

"It's similar, yet so different from home."

"You got someone back home?"

"Oh Solars, no." Hikari glowed pink at the thought, "Most Lightfuries don't usually find someone to resonate with until we get our True forms. Though I did know a rowdy couple in my cluster, my instructors would go crazy trying to separate the two."

"Resonate?"

"Resonating…" Hikari paused, trying to figure out how to best explain it, "It's like being together, but so much more. You feel it in your being that you are with someone who knows you completely on the same wavelength. Not that you're completely similar to your partner, but you can understand and merge as one unit. Being a resonated couple is a commitment and a promise that one makes for the other."

"So, it's like marriage?"

"I suppose so, but nothing fancy like in the shows you've shown me. It's simpler and more intimate than having vows said in front of a giant crowd. It's an oath we keep to ourselves and keep to it for the rest of our lives."

"That does sound romantic." April smiled as both girls got lost in the warm dreams of romance.

* * *

Raph came out of his room with Spike in his hand, they were on their way to the kitchen for Spike's feeding. Just as he left his room, he noticed Leo peeking out of the corner and staring at the pit. He decided to sneak closer to find out what has got his brother so curious. As he got closer, he could hear the girls talking about romance and marriage. He gagged in the back of his throat. Raph was genuinely surprised when he managed to sneak right behind him without Leo even noticing he was there. He must've been really invested in this.

A sly grin formed on his face and he inched closer to Leo's ear before shouting, "What'cha doing there, Leo?"

"Gah!" Leo jumped into the air then got in position to defend himself, only to find Raph barely able to hold in his laughter. A sense of dread crawled down his shell when it hit him and he slowly turned to the girls who were now staring at him.

Leo and Raph walked into the area and Raph was brimming with anticipation to see how his normally calm and collected big brother was going to get himself out of this.

Meanwhile, Leo was frantically coming up with an excuse, hoping his panic wasn't obvious as he stuttered, "Hmm, Space Heroes is coming on soon, I was just going to watch it. Do you guys want to join me?"

The excuse sounded weak even to Leo himself. Raph couldn't hold it in any longer and howling with laughter as Leo felt his face turn red. April caught on too and giggled silently behind her hand.

Thankfully for Leo, Hikari bought the excuse. "I'll watch it with you. I need something to lift my mood after that bittersweet ending."

April felt bad for laughing at Leo's feelings and regained her composure, "But it is good though. At least they're finally together again."

"Yes. A love that transcends time and boundaries." Hikari swooned with yearning in her eyes.

Raph just rolled his eyes when he spotted his brother giving the same yearning look at her, "I'll never understand you people. C'mon, Spike."

Raph got to the kitchen as Leo and Hikari were getting ready to watch an episode of that stupid show. April left shortly after the Space Heroes theme started.

Raphael headed back to his room after getting Spike's lettuce. He chuckled when he remembered his dorky brother's expression when he got caught. It was a miracle that Hikari didn't confront him about it by now. Leo's feelings for her was almost as obvious as Donnie's for April.

Raph sighed when he thought about his lovestruck brothers. Mutants like him and his brothers weren't meant to find someone like Donnie hoped with April. Love was just wasn't in the cards for them and it was gonna end with hearts breaking. Even if he'd never admit it to anyone but Spike, he was scared of the fallout and the pain that came after. Leo and Donnie would be devastated if or when they got rejected. Raph made a promise to himself that he'd protect his family no matter what, and if that meant being there for his brothers while they cried their hearts out then he'd do it without a doubt.

* * *

Leo was so relieved that he managed to get out of that situation without embarrassing himself too much. At least Hikari still didn't know about his growing feelings for her. He wasn't sure if this was a crush, but he was definitely treading into new territories. He admired her so much and she got his heart racing in a way he never felt before. Her skills were amazing and she was learning so fast. She might on par with him and his brothers soon. And that wasn't accounting her looks. It took him two days for him to get used to Hikari's look after she showed it off at April's room. She was beautiful enough with her big silver eyes and her soft smiles. With her new clothes, she looked like she belonged on Earth with them. It made Leo hope that maybe she'd want to stay here a little longer instead of going back to the stars.

There was also the way she was with his brothers. She was the first person besides April they really let themselves get close to and she melded so well into their family. She looked after Mikey like a little brother even though he was technically older than her, she helped Donnie in the lab whenever he needed her and she was the only person who even came close (not by a lot though) to understand half of Donnie's techno babble.

Then there was her relationship with Raph… Leo still didn't know how to feel about that. They spent plenty of time sparring in the dojo and out on the surface after Raph introduced Hikari to parkour. Realistically, Raph spent about the same amount of time with Hikari as him or any of his other brothers. So why did it feel like his plastron was crushing him whenever he saw those two hanging out?

Leo groaned in his head. Why did relationships have to be so complicated? What would Captain Ryan do? He decided to think about it later and focused on the present, which right now was him watching an episode of Space Heroes with Hikari. In the episode, Captain Ryan and his crew were dealing with a spy who gained Captain Ryan's trust. They allowed him onto the ship only to show their intentions of stealing the ship for his own nefarious purposes. Luckily, Captain Ryan saved his team by shoving the spy into an airlock and ejecting him into the depths of space.

Of course, Captain Ryan knew exactly what to do, he always did. So why was it so hard for him?

* * *

Shortly after Mikey came back from his playdate with Chris Bradford, the team went on patrol for the night. They went back to the alleyway where they last encountered the ninjas and surveyed the scene.

"They must have been watching us from up here" Leo deduced after observing the rooftops and the alleyway they were in last night.

"Doesn't seem very fair." Donnie noted.

"Remember, Sensei said to seek victory, not fairness."

Donnie put his hands up in a placating manner, "Ok, Ok Jeez."

"Don't worry Donnie. Sensei just made sure Leo really felt and remembered that lesson." Hikari said, making Leo pout a little inside at her jab.

Chills went down Donnie's spine after hearing that, he knew how Master Splinter was when he really wanted them to remember a lesson. "Got it."

Hikari looked back to Mikey and Raph who were lingering behind them. Raph was getting more and more annoyed with Mikey's stories of Chris Bradford, not that she would blame him. Mikey had been talking about Bradford ever since he got back from his dojo, it was starting to wear on her too. "I don't understand why Chris Bradford means so much to Mikey."

"He's always been the most outgoing of us." Donnie explained, "He always making up imaginary friends to play with when we were little. I think he just really likes the idea of having his hero as a friend."

"I suppose."

Leo noticed Hikari's shoulders drop a little as she said that. "Mikey isn't gonna forget you, don't worry." He reassured her.

"It's that obvious, huh?" She smiled in a self-deprecating manner, "I _know_ that, I just wish I could shake off this feeling I'm getting."

Leo winced inwards as he couldn't help but think the same thing about Hikari.

Raph finally had enough and blew up, "Mikey, just shut up about Chris Bradford! You've been talking about him all night."

"Am not!" Mikey protested, looking to the others for backup.

"You begged me to try his hair routine to see if it would work." Hikari deadpanned.

"Well I don't have hair! I have to know somehow."

Mikey soon realized that no one was on his side and stomped his foot petulantly, "Fine, you know who I can talk to Chris Bradford about? Chris Bradford."

Mikey jumped off into the night as the remaining members watched on. Neither of them had anything to say, but all of them felt a little emptier after seeing Mikey leave like that.

"Come on, guys." Leo said, "Let's finish up the next district and call it a night."

* * *

The team made it back before Mikey came sprinting into the lair like he was on a sugar rush they hadn't seen since Halloween. Mikey pulled them all into the dojo and bragged about how Chris Bradford showed him his super-secret kata, performing it for all of them to see.

"And he sweeps the leg. Ha!" Mikey ended the demonstration as dramatically as it started, "The death dragon."

He looked at his family who were all enraptured by his performance. Leo first voiced his excitement, "That was amazing!"

"It's like watching a dance of destruction." Hikari said in a mesmerized tone.

Donnie nodded, "Yeah, it's devastatingly effective and complex."

"Yet even Mikey could learn it." Raph commented as he leaned back on the tree in the dojo.

"Thank you." Mikey said before the insult clicked in, "Hey!"

A ping sound interrupted them as Mikey rushed to Donnie's laptop, which he brought along with him to the dojo.

"It's RadBrad, that's my little name for him" Mikey typed a little before saying, "He wants to get together for a little B-ball."

"What in galaxies is B-ball?" Hikari asked.

"Probably some human thing, you wouldn't know about it." Mikey got up and waved it off, not noticing the pained look on Hikari's face.

Mikey walked out of the dojo as Leo called out, "Wait, you're meeting him now?"

"Yeah, it's a human friend thing. You should try it sometimes." Mikey's voice echoed in before he poked his head in for one smug look, "Oh wait, you can't."

Hikari clenched her jaw as Mikey left the lair, "I'm trying really hard not to go over and scorch all the frozen pizza in the fridge right now."

"Hey!" Raph cried, "Don't punish the rest of us."

Raph was stunned when his words didn't affect her at all. She didn't smile or roll her eyes. She just looked angry as she walked over to one of the punching bags in the dojo, punching it again and again like he did when his brothers got on his nerves.

"Wow, Mikey really did a number on her." Raph whispered to Leo and Donnie. All of them were now watching Hikari punch and kick the sandbag as it swung more with every hit.

"Could you blame her?" Donnie shook his head, "Other than Leo, Mikey is the one she's the most affectionate with."

Leo chose to ignore the comment and pulled his brothers away, "Just let her cool down. C'mon, I wanna get this down."

The turtles started practicing the Death Dragon with Hikari's blows and grunts in the background. They ran through it a few times before Leo gave it another try, only barely missing Raph.

"Not quite." He said.

"Wait, I think I got it." Leo pondered for a moment before he tried again.

The hard work paid off as Leo successfully swept his brother off of his feet and performed the kata perfectly. The victory was soured when they heard Master Splinter yell in an angry tone he'd only use if he was _really_ upset, "Where did you learn that?"

"Mikey learned it from his new friend." Leo answered as he helped Raph back onto his feet.

"The man who taught him that kata is no friend. It comes from the Shredder." Master Splinter explained, worry evident on his face. Hikari stopped her punches and walked over to the turtles.

"You mean Bradford is one of his students?" She asked.

"He must be."

Leo then pieced everything together, "So Bradford is just pretending to be Mikey's friend to get to you."

"What a relief, everything makes sense again." Raph said before it hit him, "Mikey's in trouble!"

"I can't believe that this douche is playing Mikey for a fool." Hikari growled, "He's going down."

"Bradford has to know that we'll be coming for Mikey." Leo stated, once again being the voice of reason, "We need to play this smart."

"What should we do?"

Leo thought for a while before a grin formed on his face, "Why don't we level the playing field?"

* * *

Mikey was really starting to regret the choices he'd made, trusting Bradford was the worst one yet. Now he was tied up like a present and bait for his team. He pushed his family aside so he could spend more time with Chris only to be betrayed and berated by him. Bradford's words stung every time he taught about it. Maybe his brothers were right… Humans could never accept him or his family no matter what they did.

His train of thought was halted when he saw the silhouettes of his brothers and Hikari from the skylight above him. They dropped down undetected and knocked out every ninja in the room. Once they were taken care of, Hikari activated her uni-weapon into a small dagger and started cutting Mikey's ropes.

Mikey was overjoyed to see his family, "Dudes, that was sporadic."

"That's not what that means." Donnie sighed.

After cutting the ropes, Mikey sat upright and rubbed his sore wrists. Hikari smiled and pet his head, "How are you feeling, Mikey?"

Mikey looked up at her and his heart swelled when he saw the relief in her eyes, "Much better now."

Now that Mikey was rescued, the team started heading back to the sewers. Mikey mentioned to the others that he was meant to be bait for the others, along with his concern about Bradford and his partner. Leo quickly explained everything to him as they ran to the manhole cover as planned.

They each got into position as they waited for their enemies. Soon enough they heard the manhole cover open. Donnie and Mikey snuck a peek before giving the others the signal. Leo had a satisfied smile as he said, "Alright, let's have some fun."

From the shadows, the team can see Bradford and his partner walking through the sewers with an army of ninjas behind them. Clearly, they were continuing their idea of fixed-odds against fairness. Unfortunately for them, this was not their home turf.

With every corner they turn, Leo and Raph were grabbing the ninjas into the shadows and knocking them out. Bradford didn't realize that his ninjas were disappearing into the pipes above every step they took. It didn't take long for Bradford and his partner to notice that all of their henchmen were gone.

His partner had a flare in his hand, using it to light up the room. They were stunned by the sight of their finest recruits tied and dangled from the pipes like meat in a slaughterhouse.

"Show your faces." Bradford snarled like a cornered animal, looking around the room for his target.

That was when Leo and Raph revealed themselves from the water next to them, while Donnie, Mikey and Hikari dropped down by the entrance they came from.

Bradford and his partner knew that they were trapped so they did the only thing they could do. "Take them down." Bradford said before charging at Leo and Raph, leaving his partners to deal with the remaining three.

Hikari already had an idea of what Bradford was capable of, but that went out the window when she and the younger brothers had to face his partner. The man didn't have the large muscular build that Bradford had, but he still had the same confident aura that Bradford had during their first fight in the alleyway.

The man wasted no time in attacking them in a way she had never seen before. Hikari described the Death Dragon as a dance of destruction, but that was much more fitting for this man's fighting style.

The man then launched himself towards Hikari with the knife he had pointed down, it would've hit her straight in the chest if she didn't have her guard activated. Hikari took the chance and kicked him on the side, causing him to land on his gut against a large pipe. "Well, what's a pretty thing like you doing with these disgusting creatures?" He said.

"I was looking to fight them since they decided it was a good idea to mess with my team."

He scoffed before using his speed to get into close quarters with Hikari again, her strength not enough to match with his speed and agility. She turned her uni-weapon into a dagger once again to try and fight back, the hits she managed to land amongst all the dodges and attacks weren't enough to stop him to pinning her on the ground.

"Feisty little girl. Name's Xever, remember it." Xever whispered in a slimy tone by her ear while gently tracing her cheek with his blade, "Maybe I can even convince Shredder to let you go."

Hikari squirmed and twisted to try and throw him off. Luckily, Xever wasn't on her for much longer. "Get your hands off her!" Donnie yelled as he kicked Xever off his sister.

"Thanks Donnie." She said as she got back up. The knife did cut her cheek, but it was a small price to pay.

"Thank me later." The trio got into position again as Xever was getting up. They noticed that Leo and Raph weren't doing well against Bradford either, so Donnie came up with an idea.

With a few hand gestures, they got the plan and set it in motion. They maneuvered around their respective opponents, taunting them and switching places so that they were now handling the other's fight. Leo and Raph stood strong as they faced off against Xever, while Hikari was pleased that she got a rematch against Bradford.

As Bradford winded his fist back, Mikey caught his wrist with one of his nunchucks and pulled it back and over an elevated pipe from the other side, forcing Bradford back and trapping him. Donnie used his bo staff to knock out his knees while Hikari whacked him upwards at his chin with a staff of her own. With that momentum, Mikey spun around and pulled his nunchuck along with Bradford's arm forward, tossing him over the giant pipe he was leaning on and onto the ground again.

Leo and Raph were faring much better now that they didn't have to counter against Bradford's strength. With the two of them covering each other, they took care of Xever and pushed him up the stairs. Hikari and Mikey forced Bradford up there as well, just as they planned.

"They knew we were following them." Bradford said, finally realizing what had happened.

"That's right." Mikey said confidently. Hikari couldn't help but smile at the switch of roles here.

However, Bradford wasn't going down without giving his all. He tried for one last attack against Mikey, but Mikey dodged it and counterattacked him with his own signature kata, the Death Dragon.

Once Bradford was down, Mikey gave his brothers the signal. Donnie and Leo turned the valve and released a gush of sewage from the tunnel behind a screaming Bradford and Xever, sweeping the two away and down into the sewer system.

"Well, that didn't seem very fair." Raph smirked.

"No, it wasn't."

"Hi-three!" Mikey cheered as the five came together for a hi-three before heading back to the lair.

* * *

"Pizza's here!" Hikari walked into the pit with a fresh hot box to celebrate. Leo, Raph and Donnie each took a slice before Hikari took one for herself. She sat down on the floor and munched away at their victory pizza.

However, Donnie noticed the concerned look on Master Splinter's face. "Sensei, aren't you hungry?"

"I fear we are celebrating too soon."

"Too soon?" Raph disagreed, "The bad guys were swept away in a river of raw sewage."

"Karmic justice at its finest." Hikari cut in with her cheeks filled with pizza.

Raph grinned at the memory and continued, "By my watch, that makes it the perfect time."

Splinter's eyes darken with dread at Raph's words, "Shredder knows I'm alive, and worse, he knows about all of you. It's my worst nightmare come true."

The four teenagers shared a worried look, finally understanding the gravity of the situation. "So, it's not over?" Leo asked.

"No. It's just beginning."

Hikari swallowed the pizza in her mouth but didn't have the appetite for another bite. She looked over to Raph and Mikey who were talking to each other, with the laptop by Mikey's side still showing Chris Bradford's profile. She decided to take a slice for Mikey, after all he'd never say no to a slice of pizza.

As she got closer, she could hear what the two brothers were saying, "If you tell the others, I'll beat the green off of ya. But you're an awesome guy, Mikey."

"Bradford didn't think so." Mikey pouted.

"Bradford is a psychopathic killer who doesn't know kindness if someone stabbed him in the heart with it." The two stared at Hikari who just looked back at them with the pizza in her hand, "Too much?"

Raph decided to ignore it to make his case, "Anyways, point is you deserve way better friends than him."

"You know what, you're right." Mikey smiled, "Thanks Raph."

"Anytime." Raph patted him on the back and left for his room.

"And I'm sorry, Hikari." Mikey said, "I shouldn't have said all that stuff earlier."

"You were just excited. Don't apologize for being Mikey." Hikari said as she handed him his pizza, "But next time I'm screening your future friends."

Mikey nodded and turned back to the laptop with a sinister look. With the click of a mouse, Chris Bradford was no longer his friend. "Unfriend. Revenge!" Mikey laughed maniacally.

Hikari just rolled her eyes, happy that Mikey was back to his old self.

After everyone finished their dinner, Hikari found herself wandering to the dojo. She peeked in to check if anyone was in before entering the empty training area. She reflected on the glimpse of fighting she could remember in the moment, striking at the practice dummy in the corner as her anger rose.

"I expected Raph to be in here with all that noise." Leo's voice knocked her off focus and she fell back onto the mat.

"Did I disturb you?" She asked as she got back up.

"No but I'm worried about you."

Hikari was a little anxious after hearing that. Even if he was talking about her frustrations over what happened today, she was always scared that he was going to confront her about her behavior fighting the Kraang. She didn't want to know how Leo would react to it.

At least this time she could answer fully and honestly, "I felt so useless during both our fights with Bradford. I couldn't keep up with them. It was so different from sparring with you or fighting the Kraang."

"It was our first time, we'll get better."

"If they're gonna keep coming for us, we have to get better." Hikari paused and took a deep breath before asking, "Leo, could you train me?"

"Train you?" Leo's eyes widen at her request.

"I can't just rely on what I know and people underestimating me, I need to become better and faster. I want to learn more and help out."

"You help out enough."

"Please."

Leo closed his eyes and didn't say anything, Hikari was worried that he'd say no. After what felt like hours, Leo relented, "Alright, let's talk to sensei about this."

"No need. Did you honestly think I would not notice?" Both of them jumped when they heard his voice. They turned around to see him by the door to his room.

"Sensei!"

"I understand your request." Splinter walked up to the two of them, "Leonardo, you are free to train Hikari as you see fit. However, you both mustn't overdo your training. Extra work is no excuse for slacking off on your daily lessons."

"Hai sensei." Both said in unison.

"Your desire to defend those you care about is an admirable trait, Hikari. However, a strike with a pure intention can still cause lasting wounds. Please be mindful of that."

She tensed as she heard that. She did her best to not let it show, "…Hai sensei."

"I will be meditating in my room." With that, Splinter left the room and the two relaxed their straight postures.

"That went well." Leo said.

"Yes, I'm happy. I'm sure you'll do a great job." Hikari looked at Leo, waiting for his command, "So what should we work on first?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did this get so long? This entire chapter is almost 20 pages long in my Word doc. But yeah... Enjoy this chapter, guys.
> 
> The movie that April and Hikari were watching was "Your Name". I rewatched it recently and I fell in love with the idea of adding it into this world (even if the movie came out in 2016). If you haven't already seen it, go watch it. It's so beautiful, plus this isn't gonna be the only time I bring up this movie.
> 
> I really enjoy writing the different kinds of relationships Hikari has with each turtle. They're all so unique and interesting to write. Mikey and Hikari's relationship was actually the easiest to write, followed very closely with the flirtationship that Leo and Hikari have. It's mostly because I do have a little brother I adore and the head petting thing came from me always touching my baby brother's soft hair when we were kids.
> 
> I've also decided on a posting schedule. I'll be posting 2 chapters a week, one on Monday and one on Friday, but if this gets enough love and gets 5 comments like last time, I will post the next chapter immediately.


	7. I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman

Hikari was on her bed reading a book that Donnie gave her as her exercise for the day. It was simple, she knew it was simple because she had already read the book before with her translator on. But without it on her neck, the letters on the book just look like crude symbols she knew the meaning of. She sighed as she continued through the book, remembering Donnie's lessons. She was determined to remember the words and recite this stupid book properly without her translator, it was a children's book about green colored food for Spark's sake.

She was about to curse the existence of green ham when she heard a lot of loud noises happening outside and her door swung wide open. Mikey was popped in with his skateboard under his arm, "Hey Hikari, you got a minute? I need your help."

Hikari was smart enough to know that when Mikey said those words without guilt or the accompaniment of shouting from his older brothers, it usually meant that he was up to something that would either be really interesting or end really badly. Considering her options were going along with Mikey's plan or going back to the book, she barely gave the book a sideways glance before putting her translator back on and following Mikey out the door.

They both entered the pit and Hikari stopped for a moment to comprehend everything she was looking at. Firstly, the pit was a complete mess. Somehow the turtles had turned the area into a chaotic collage of pizza boxes and scattered comic pages.

Secondly and most importantly, there was now a giant wooden ramp in the middle of the pit area. Donnie was finishing up on it while Leo moved the TV away and Raph used his foot to clear a path amongst all the trash.

Hikari had so many questions that she was almost too afraid to ask them any, almost. "What are you guys doing?"

"Setting a new world record." was the only answer she got from Mikey.

"Now, the guys are gonna get in position. I need you to hold this up right here and stand perfectly still." Mikey positioned her right in front of the right seating area and handed her a giant metal loop. If that wasn't bizarre enough, someone had tied a slice of pizza on the loop so that it was dangling right in the center.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Hikari asked, questioning every decision that led her to this moment.

"I'm sure this'll be awesome." Mikey gave her a thumbs up before getting on top of the giant wooden ramp. "Alright guys, get into your spots."

His brothers complained as they arranged themselves and folded themselves onto the floor. "I can't believe he talked us into this." Raph said aloud.

"And now Michelangelo will attempt to break the skateboarding world record by jumping over three mutant turtles, diving into a hoop held by his _lovely_ assistant, catching the pizza in the center." Mikey announced from the top of the ramp.

Hikari rolled her eyes and held the hoop up in the air the way Mikey wanted it.

Once everything was ready, Mikey kicked off and skated down the ramp with a loud "Booyakasha!"

"What is going on here?" Master Splinter's loud commanding voice caught all of them off guard.

"Sensei!" Leo yelped as he, Raph and Donnie stood up to face him, while Hikari shrunk a little with a panicked look.

Mikey's screaming triggered theirs as they were set for a crash collision, none of them were able to move in time. The five of them ended up in a pile of agony and regrets. It was made worse when they looked up and saw their sensei's enraged face looking down at them, "How many times have I told you not skateboard in the lair?"

"None, sensei." Mikey answered.

"I shouldn't have to!"

Leo took initiative and dropped his head in shame, "You're right, we definitely should know better and we deserved to be punished."

They all followed Leo's lead and dropped their heads, awaiting their sentence. But when Splinter didn't say anything, the air around them felt more and more tense. He stopped stroking his beard and spoke, "Hmm. Hikari."

"Hai Sensei?" Her voice squeaked and she stood even straighter.

"What do you think a fitting punishment will be for the five of you?"

Neither one of them expected this kind of question or that Hikari would be the one who had to answer it. She went wide-eyed and speechless, but couldn't turn to the turtles for guidance. With only her past experiences of getting in trouble back during training, she did her best to answer.

"Uhh… We should clean up our mess?" She suggested.

Splinter just folded his arms, looking unimpressed.

"And think about what we've done?" She continued, starting to wonder if there is a right answer.

The turtles were more than willing to take Hikari's suggested punishment and did their best to voice it.

But Master Splinter had other plans in mind, "What about being grounded for a week?"

The team started stammering their reluctance towards it carefully, not wanting to stoke the flame even more. However, none of it mattered as Splinter said with finality, "You're all grounded for a week!"

They all groaned in annoyance, but stood upright again when the sound of their disastrous stunt literally came crashing down. Splinter's stare spurred them into action as they tidied up the lair without another objection.

* * *

After tiding up the pit, the team went off to try and distract themselves from their punishment. Donnie went back to the lab to finish what he was working on before Mikey pulled him away from it. Mikey decided to teach Hikari one of his favorite dances, she agreed since she didn't want to be stuck with the book again. Leo was trying to enjoy his Space Heroes comic, but Raph's angry pacing and mumbling was making it very difficult.

"This bites." Raph kicked at the ground in frustration, "I can't believe we're stuck down here for a whole week."

"We've managed to live without going to the surface for 15 years, stop being so dramatic." Leo replied without looking away from the pages.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Mikey yelled as he stopped the music and sighed, "Hikari, you're my sister and I love you. But kick-step, kick-step, body roll is not rocket science!"

Hikari was getting frustrated too, this was the 10th time they ran through this section. She usually loved dancing with Mikey because he enjoyed teaching her a lot of moves but the tension from earlier just put all of them on edge.

"Ugh! How is this worse than Green Eggs and Ham?" Hikari looked up at the ceiling for mercy.

"I can't take it anymore. I've gotta get out of here."

"Raph, you know what Master Splinter said." Leo said, still not looking up from his comic.

Donnie rushed out of the lab with something cradled in his hands, "Guys, do you wanna see what I made?"

"This is how bored I am." Raph stated before turning to Donnie, "Yes, Donnie. I do."

"So remember the last time we went scrounging in that military junkyard?"

"No." The other turtles responded.

"Yes." Hikari answered, then continued when the others looked at her, "He made me go without my translator then practice English by telling him the names of every parts and items we found."

"Well, I found an incredibly advanced A.I. microchip, made from- Get this-! Self-assembled chain-linked copolymers!" Donnie exclaimed excitedly.

"That's my favorite kind of copolymer!" Mikey did the same, though his eyes showed him clueless as ever.

"Mine too! And I used it to make this. The most advanced music player in the world." Donnie showed off the music player, a sleek silver pod with a blue touchscreen. The others were impressed and interesting in it. "So who wants to try it?"

"I do!" Both Hikari and Mikey shouted.

They noticed and stared each other down until Hikari made a suggestion, "Rock paper scissors?"

They both played and Hikari's scissors lost to Mikey's rock.

"Sewer apples." She cursed and crossed her arms.

"Haha." Mikey stuck his tongue before making grabby hands at Donnie, "Toss me the T-Pod, D."

"The T-Pod?" Donnie questioned as he gave Mikey the newly dubbed T-Pod.

"Turtle. Pod. T-Pod." Mikey explained smugly while putting on the earphones, "I'm so good at naming stuff."

"Should we really be putting military grade tech into Mikey's head? What if it melts his brain?"

"It'll be fine. Besides, if it did, we wouldn't even know the difference."

"AHHH!" Mikey screamed as he clutched his head.

The four looked at Mikey while Donnie asked in a frenzy, "What's wrong?!"

"It's playing Polka! Make it stop!" Mikey wailed. Donnie just sighed and skipped it to a Hip-Hop track. Mikey stopped wailing and started dancing to it instead.

Everyone was watching Mikey dance awkwardly until Raph was fed up, "That's it. I'm leaving. I need to go do something or I'm gonna lose it."

He looked at the board on the ground and got an idea, "Let's go find a skate spot."

"Skate spot? I'm totally in!" Mikey chimed in.

"Raph! You know we're grounded, what's Splinter going to say?" Leo tried using reason once again.

"Oh, I didn't notice them leaving at all because I was asleep" Raph said in his Splinter impression. While lackluster, Hikari got Raph's point.

"Real mature, Raph." Leo crossed his arms unimpressed, "But I'm your leader. And as your leader, I say nobody's going."

"Well as your followers, we're going anyways."

" _Well_ as your leader, I'm going with you, to lead you away from… bad stuff."

"Great job, Leo." Hikari laughed.

Leo turned to her, looking unamused, "You know you could help me."

Hikari just tilted her head with a playful smile. She knew that her opinion wouldn't really change much. Even if Leo somehow got everyone else to stay, Raph would just sneak out anyways. But that wasn't for her to say.

"I could." Hikari winked, "Donnie's probably gonna make me give him my translator tonight so I hope that's punishment enough for you."

Leo "Are you gonna bring your skates?"

"Not everyone can be good with a board like you guys."

* * *

Soon the team were out on the rooftops. Mikey was having the time of his life with his skateboard as he soared through the city with his jumps and tricks. Hikari was nowhere good enough to use her skates like Mikey was with his board, so she had her skates slinging on her shoulder. She did laugh when she saw how much fun Mikey was having. Her laughter without the translator on sounded like a cicada during summertime. The turtles were caught off guard the first time they heard it, but they accepted it like every other weird thing in their lives.

"Thanks for the new songs, Donnie." Mikey said louder than he should in the middle of the night.

"What? I didn't add any new songs." "It's got thousands of songs and it's downloading more every second. I didn't program it to do that."

"May-be it's the A.I.?" Hikari asked slowly, making sure she got the syllables right.

"The chip!" Donnie realized, "It must be reconfiguring itself."

"Whatever you just said, it's totally awesome!" Mikey said loudly as he did another kickflip.

Leo was getting annoyed with the noise they were making and started whisper-ordering them, "Guys! We're ninjas, remember? We move swiftly and, here's the important part, _silently_!"

Just as he said that, Leo missed a step and dropped off the rooftop screaming. He fell through a glass pane of a greenhouse which made a loud crash. Hikari winced again when she heard him shriek, "BEEHIVE!"

He managed to escape the greenhouse with another crash through glass and he fell off the roof yet again. This time, he tumbled down the fire escape. His shell making loud clanks as he rolled all the way down before landing in a pile of garbage. All that noise somehow triggered a car alarm that was now blaring next to them.

Hikari let out a bunch of soft screeches as she looked on with a whole mix of emotions, not knowing whether to laugh or panic after witnessing everything that just happened.

Raph, on the other hand, was more than willing to relish at his big brother's pain, "That wasn't very _silent_ , Leo!"

Hikari punched Raph in the arm before climbing down the fire escape Leo fell from, dropping right in front of him, "Leo, are you ok?"

Leo froze as his head cleared and he saw Hikari with a concerned frown and her hand out for him. He took her hand and brushed himself off once he got up. "Peachy! You didn't see all of that, did you?" He asked quickly.

The silent blinking was all the answer he needed as he facepalmed in shame, "Of course you did."

The two of them returned to the rooftops where the others were waiting. Leo was already choking himself after humiliating himself so badly. Raph's smug look didn't do any favors, "Nice moves, Casanova."

"Raph, I swear I'll-"

Hikari cut in to stop the incoming argument, "We should go."

The two stopped arguing but Hikari didn't notice the glares and grins the two shot at each other as they kept going. Eventually, they stopped at a spot in front of a skyscraper. No one was around at this time of night and there were handrails and stuff to mess around with.

"That looks like a nice place to shred." Raph declared, scanning the terrain for all the possible tricks they could pull off.

Suddenly, they heard a loud stomping noise. Hikari was the first to notice a man with an afro walking around a metal exoskeleton. "Look." She pointed to the man walking on the street.

"Who is that guy?" Donnie asked.

"I don't know, but that guy needs a beatdown." Raph glared as he got ready to jump down.

"Hold on, Raph." Leo stopped him, "We don't know if he's gonna anything wrong. He could be on his way to church?"

Raph looked at Leo like he was an idiot, it didn't help that Leo didn't even buy his own excuse.

"Wearing powered battle armor?" Raph questioned, "What kind of church is that?"

"A really awesome one." Mikey said, making Leo facepalm.

"Look, it's my call. I decide who gets a beatdown" Leo said before the man activated some kind of laser and started cutting into the metal slider door. His tone changed after that, "And I say that guy needs a beatdown."

The team dropped to street level while the man was cursing at his laser and kicking the metal door. He hadn't spotted them yet and they were starting to wonder if he was even worth the trouble.

"It's just kinda sad." Donnie said.

Mikey nodded, "Yeah, I don't know if we should pound him or buy him an ice cream cone."

"What now?" Hikari asked as she dropped her skates to a side and grabbed her uni-weapon off her belt.

"Halt, villain!" Leo commanded, his voice deeper than normal and his katanas out for combat.

" _Halt, villain?_ When did we start talking like that?"

"We're heroes." Leo explained with his normal voice, "That's how heroes talk."

Hikari started laughing quietly at the corny line and banter. Raph turned to glare at her, "Don't encourage him."

She smiled coyly but the low buzzing did stop.

"You will feel the fury of my powered battle- Holy cow! You guys are turtles!"

"Rude." Hikari said and crossed her arms.

"That's right. We're the defender of justice!" Leo posed again with his epic hero voice.

"Wow." Raph said in disbelief, "I mean, just… wow."

The man started charging at them as Donnie pulled out his staff and Raph armed himself with his sais. The team started running at the man when a loud shout stopped them, "Wait!"

Mikey casually put away his T-Pod and took out his nunchucks, "Ok, ready!"

Hikari just stepped in and activated her uni-weapon, using her whip to tie down one of the mechanical arms while Leo sliced into the shoulder part and Mikey took out the helmet. The turtles made quick work dismantling the whole thing, each of them attacking him on their skateboards. The man lost control of his suit, causing him to fall over and activate an alarm. The team panicked, knowing the police would be arriving soon.

Donnie got an idea and opened a dumpster next to him, Raph understood and picked the man up before throwing him in the dumpster.

The man was not pleased as he shouted loudly, "You might not be the first to throw me in the trash, but you will be the last!"

The team made a mad dash to the rooftops just before the police arrived. They decided they had enough fun beating the man, so they headed back to the sewers where they'd dive into the water and sneak back in.

Before Donnie got into the water, he felt Hikari tap on his shell, "Donnie, can I have it back?"

"Well, we are almost home. Sure." Donnie said as he took out her translator, "I have to say, you did a really good job without your translator tonight. You even used mostly perfect sentences."

"I want it back." Hikari grabbed her translator and put it back on her neck before letting out a sigh of relief, "Oh sweet star systems, that was awful. I literally had to stop myself from using words I wasn't sure how to say."

"You're not gonna get better if you don't practice."

"Please, I know my English sounds awful to you guys without this thing. I can't even say Raph's name without sounding like a pissed off hornet"

"You know we wouldn't make fun of you for that." Donnie paused at Hikari's blank 'really?' stare before correcting himself, "You know Leo and I wouldn't make fun of you for that."

Hikari just ran her finger over the translator on her neck, "I just wished I could speak better without my translator. I could mostly understand you guys without it, and I can almost read without it too."

"Learning takes time. Just be patient, Hikari."

"Hai, sensei." Hikari rolled her eyes before diving into the water. Donnie sighed and did the same. Everyone managed to make it back to the lair without Splinter coming to check on them, so they considered it a win and called it a night.

* * *

Their morning training session was a disaster. None of them got enough sleep and their exhaustion was starting to show itself with every exercise. Leonardo's form wasn't as straight as it normally was. Raphael's movements didn't have the usual force. Donatello kept falling over to try and stay awake. Michelangelo was yawning even more than usual. Hikari couldn't even move her arms around with her usual style of grace. All of them started to fall apart and Master Splinter had no choice but to confront them.

"You all seem tired." He stated while his students scrambled to dissuade him of it.

"We're not!"

"Wide awake!"

"Fresh as daisies!"

"No need to worry!"

Master Splinter was annoyed that his children actually think they could fool him, "So you would not object to a little Randori."

The turtles and Hikari gulped in fear but took their positions. It didn't take long for Splinter to absolutely demolish them, leaving them on the mat with their aching muscles. "Well I hope you all have learned, that truth isn't the only thing that hurts."

The team was exhausted after the ruthless training session. Neither of them said a word as they all went back to their rooms for a nap before things went back to normal again. It was close to sunset when they were functioning again. Hikari went over to Donnie's lab for their daily lesson, which went well enough until Donnie asked if she would try going 24 hours without her translator.

"Are you kidding me? If you want me to shut up, you could just say it to my face."

"First of all, that's more Raph's thing. Second, you don't shut up even without it, and that's the point. You can't keep hiding behind words you can already say. You pushed your physical training with Leo, why don't you trust me to help push you with this?"

"Don't play the 'don't you trust me' card. It's not fair…" Hikari pouted in frustration before going to take off her translator, "Fine, but I want it back if there's an emergency."

"Deal. And keep trying, Hikari." Donnie said encouragingly as Hikari handed him her translator.

"I hope you are ha-ppy." Hikari's voice turned screechy at the end, making her skin glow pink as she stomped out of the lab.

Leo and Raph were hanging out at the pit, Leo watching another episode of Space Heroes while Raph was reading a comic. Hikari counted herself lucky and joined Leo in front of the TV, knowing that they wouldn't force her to talk if she was too busy watching. It helped that the show was growing on her, thanks to Leo's quirky behavior whenever he watched it.

Leo was more than pleased that Hikari was watching it with him, this was slowly becoming their thing and the thought just warmed his heart right. The two of them sat in blissful silence as Captain Ryan and his crew found themselves in the middle of an alien rebellion. He felt himself twitching and his grin getting bigger as Captain Ryan slapped Crankshaw before giving his grand speech.

Hikari giggled again once Leo started mimicking Captain Ryan word for word. It was adorable to see how deep he was into the show. The boys didn't miss the buzzing sounds of cicadas, but Raph was the only one who reacted to it. Even though he knew that Lightfuries didn't talk like humans, it still freaked him out how Hikari would sound like bugs at times. Leo just acknowledged it with a nod after finishing his speech.

"I'll never get used to that…" Raph muttered before mocking Leo, "You seen it enough times yet, chief?"

"Shush! This is the best part." Leo said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Just then, the show was interrupted by a breaking news segment. Both Leo and Hikari's faces dropped in disappointed while Raph just snickered at the two of them. If it wasn't so hopeless and pathetic, Raph might even call this moment cute.

The mood shifted when the news showed the same man they fought last night attacking the TCRI office building, but with a much more advanced exo-suit. What was more surprising was that everyone in the office he attacked knew him by name and greeted him just as casually.

Baxter Stockman tried again to sound threatening to his old coworkers, which made her cringe as he continued his attack. Mikey and Donnie came over and joined them after hearing the screams from the TV.

"I think his name is Baxter Stockman." Raph said unamused.

Leo wondered, "How did he upgrade his armor so fast?"

The new coverage paused as Stockman shot at whoever was recording the video, and the team got a clear view of a familiar piece of tech.

"MIKEY!" Mikey winced as the others shouted his name angrily.

"Oops?" He shrunk back as Donnie walked closer to him with fury in his eyes.

"Oops?!" Donnie glared, "How did he get the T-Pod?"

"I must've dropped it during the fight."

"You dropped it? And you didn't tell anyone?!"

"Because I knew you were gonna react like this! This is all your fault!"

"My fault?" Donnie cried out indigitated

"Yeah, you should know I can't be trusted with nice things." Mikey reasoned and crossed his arms, but that didn't quell the anger of his team.

"Mikey, I adore you." Hikari said, trying to keep her hornet buzzing down, "But I really want to hit you right now."

"About time there, sister." Raph said proudly.

Leo decided to focus something more productive, "So the A.I. chip is upgrading his armor the same way it upgraded the T-Pod?"

"If it keeps going, there's no telling how powerful he'll get." Donnie said.

Hearing that, Leo made a call. "This has gone way too far, we have to tell Splinter about this."

"What? That we turned some nutjob into a supervillain?" Raph objected, "You know what he'll do to us for that?! I mean, he pounded us into the ground just for being sleepy."

"Look, we already beat Stockman once. We just need to get the T-Pod back before Splinter even notices. Problem solved."

"Yes." She looked at Donnie with a happy grin, "Donnie."

Donnie sighed and gave her translator back, "Fine. You're just delaying the lesson."

"And right now, I'm not complaining." She said after putting her translator back on. "What's the plan, Leo?"

* * *

Donnie managed to locate the T-Pod and the team soon arrived at an abandoned warehouse, where Baxter Stockman was walking around in that giant metal suit monologuing to himself. "I'm not Baxter Stockman. I am the Baxman! No, no, I am I am the Suitinator! Aw, that's terrible!

Hikari winced as the team listened to him whine, "He has a superpowered exo-suit with a self-upgrading A.I. chip, why do I still feel sorry and embarrassed for him?"

"Got any answers, Leo?"

"Not now, Raph."

The team dropped down into the room, sticking close to the shadows as they approached him.

"Captain Punch…you-hard!" Stockman tried another villain name before rejecting it, "Why is this so difficult?"

"I kinda like the suit-nator." Mikey said.

That blew the team's cover and Stockman noticed the group in the room surrounding him, "Huh? You guys again?"

"Alright, Stockman. We don't want to hurt you." Leo said calmly with his katanas in hand.

"We don't?" Raph raised an eye ridge, "Did I miss a meeting for something?"

"We just want the T-Pod."

"Give up my source of power?" Stockman bellowed, "Why? So you can laugh at me again? Throw me in a dumpster?"

"Sounds good to me." Raph smirked as he ran straight at Stockman. Stockman wounded up his robot arm and punched him into the wall, so hard that the wall partially collapsed on him.

The others saw this and became enraged. Donnie and Mikey doubled-teamed him but Stockman just extended his arms, catching both of them and smashing them onto the wall like pesky flies. Leo was facing him head on, slicing the robot arms with his katanas. That did nothing as the robot quickly replaced the arms Leo cut off, and one of the arms started attacking Leo by latching onto his head. Unable to see or remove the robot, Leo was incapacitated.

Meanwhile, Hikari charged at Stockman from behind. She activated her weapon into a whip and her guard into energy blade form, she used the whip to break the leg joint of the suit, pulling it down. Stockman turned over and she jumped onto the suit's torso, stabbing the arm coming at her with the energy blade. She reached for the T-Pod, only for the T-Pod to shock her. It caught her off guard long enough that he grabbed her with the other arm. The suit repaired itself and soon Stockman was standing again. He laughed manically as he tossed her around on the ground like a ragdoll. The beating was enough that it broke her translator.

In a desperate attempt, she tried using her own energy to overload the suit. However, it only seemed to be making the suit stronger. Stockman threw her towards the others, sending her crashing at Leo, Donnie and Raph. Hikari was angry as she came to the realization, "Donnie, did you use my en-e-gee (energy) for it?"

"The T-Pod? Yeah, I used one of our homemade batteries."

The angry buzzing of hornets got louder as she growled in frustration. Donnie knew that Hikari's translator must be broken because what came out of her mouth wasn't even saying full English or human anymore. After they heard Mikey's screams, they all rushed back to Stockman to see Mikey completely out of it while Stockman was swinging him around like a mace. Hikari transformed her whip into a spear as they all rushed into combat once again.

It failed just as miserably as Stockman smashed through a wall with the five of them in his hand, throwing them into a dumpster in the alleyway.

"How does it feel?" He looked down at the team covered in trash with his arms on his hips.

"You-" Her threats were mixed and overshadowed by the buzzing and raspy bug noises.

"Oh shut up, you little freak."

"Hey, you don't get to call her that!" Leo shouted in defense of her.

Stockman didn't respond, continuing his monolog, "All my life I've been bullied, by my classmates, by my coworkers, and that lady by the coffee machine. How was I supposed to know that you don't pour toner in from the top? No more! Now I get to throw my weight around and they'll all pay!"

As he laughed manically, the suit started glowing red as it got sturdier and stronger. The team finally saw this for the serious threat it was.

"Donnie?" Leo asked nervously, still staring at the upgraded monstrosity.

"The T-Pod and Stockman…" Donnie stammered, "They're merging into one being."

"Run!" Leo shouted and the team started running down the empty streets, desperate to get away from Stockman. But the upgrades also boosted his speed, the gap between Stockman and the team was closing fast.

"Stockmanpod's right on our tails!" Mikey yelled in fear.

"He can't go after us all." Leo said, "Split up!"

Mikey immediately protested, "No way, dudes. He'll go after me!"

"What? That's ridiculous. Go!" On the signal, the team started to break off. Raph and Donnie split away first before Leo grabbed Hikari's wrist and pulled her away into a fork in the road. Stockman ended up chasing Mikey, just like he feared.

"I told you!" They heard Mikey shout as both he and Stockman ran down the road.

Now that they had a moment of peace, Leo turned to Hikari to check her injuries. "How're you doing?"

Hikari was still fuming for the fight and the broken translator, so all that came out of her mouth was the sound of a raging hornet's nest with mixed with bits and syllables of the English language. Leo tried reading her lips to figure out what she was trying to say but what he concluded was that maybe she was hanging with Raph way too much.

"Uhh, maybe less swearing – I think? – And more actual English?"

"I. Am. _Fine._ " She hissed while looking him in the eyes. Leo shrunk a little when Hikari's rage was staring him in the face. The fire in her eyes were burning so brightly it kinda scared him.

"Alright, keep your hornets down" Leo backed away from those burning eyes. Hikari calmed down after she saw how Leo was acting. It wasn't her intention to scare him or really push him away. Once Leo noticed Hikari's posture changed, he approached her with a reassuring tone, "Let's go find the others."

Now that she had grounded herself again, she nodded and followed Leo into a manhole. They soon found the others a few blocks away from the lair. Mikey, Donnie and Raph were waiting for them and Mikey was not happy.

"I told you they always chase me!" He pouted.

Leo sighed but was relieved that everyone made it out alright, "How's everyone doing?"

"Well we're all black and blue. Hikari may or may not have a concussion, and her translator broke. Also, Stockmanpod's getting stronger. So, pretty bad night." Donnie concluded, much to Leo's dismay.

"Let's just get back before Sensei finds out." Leo was ready to just go back and sleep the pain off before morning training.

The team did their best to sneak through the main entrance since they didn't want to risk their wounds getting infested by swimming in sewer water. Unfortunately, them arguing as they fumbled through got them caught red handed. As they passed the turnstiles, the light came on and revealed Master Splinter waiting for them.

"Ah! Sensei!"

"And where have you all been?"

"Ehh… Nowhere?"

"How did you get so hurt?"

"Uhh… We were-"

"hit!"

"-by a-"

"bus!"

The team's antics was the last straw as Splinter slammed his cane onto the ground and demanded the truth, "Enough! Tell me what happened."

After allowing them to treat their wounds and getting Hikari another translator, they all reconvened in the dojo and told Master Splinter everything from the night they snuck out to their battle earlier with Baxter Stockman. Splinter didn't say a word until Mikey finished his side of the story where he escaped after throwing pizza at Stockman, "Very resourceful, Michelangelo. But I am highly disappointed in you all. The first rule of being a ninja is to do no harm. Unless you mean to do harm, then do lots of harm."

"You're right, sensei. I guess we did make a mess of things." Leo expressed his remorse.

"So what do you think would be a fitting punishment?"

He shared a look with his team before answering, "We need to clean up our mess."

"Yes. You must stop this Stockmanpod."

"But Sensei, we tried and we got our shells handed to us." Donnie explained, "Now he's even more powerful"

"Plus, I can't overload or fry it since the T-Pod uses my energy as a power source." Hikari added, "How're we supposed to stop him?"

"I know, I'll hit him really hard." Raph punched his fist into his palm.

Hikari just gave him a blank look, "Thanks, I think I'll try that after he slams me on the ground like a bag of sand."

Master Splinter stopped the incoming argument with advice of his own, "Brute force will not work, you will need to rely on your ninja training."

"Excuse me Sensei, but ninjas never have to go up against guys in armor." Mikey piped in. He froze when he was faced with dead silence, then quickly corrected himself when he noticed the massive artwork of ninjas battling armored samurai in the dojo, "I mean, ninjas always go up against guys in armor!"

"Nice save."

"What was their secret?" Leo asked.

"They understood that you do not fight the armor, you fight the man inside." Master Splinter told them, letting them sit and understand his words.

They did… except for Mikey. Now with a new understanding, they came up with a plan.

* * *

Leo, Raph, Donnie and Hikari were waiting in their places, waiting for Mikey to lead Stockman to them. Time passed by and Hikari started to get worried, "Is this going to work?"

"Like Sensei said, don't fight the armor, fight the guy inside. And if there's one thing we know about bad guys, it's that they love chasing Mikey." Leo smiled confidently.

"Guys! Stockmanpod's got-" Mikey jumped as he shouted, "Missiles!"

Mikey managed to catch himself on an overhead wire with his nunchuck, dangling above the flames from the explosion. Hikari used her guard to fend off any debris that came towards her and the others. Stockman soon showed up with his suit, now even bigger than before, laughing as he marched towards Mikey

"Remember the plan. Move." Leo said as he, Raph, and Donnie took out their kusarigamas. Hikari activated her uni-weapon into a whip. They all jumped into action, surrounding the giant suit and tying it down with their weapons. It worked for a while but Stockman proved stronger as he broke the chains and snapped the whip. After freeing himself, he charged at the first target in front of him, which was Mikey, and swatted him into the face of the next building.

"Mikey!" They cried out as they watched in horror.

They all attacked the suit, trying despretely to get to the T-Pod. But Stockman stopped them before even coming close.

After jumping away from a barrage of attacks, Hikari commenced with the next step of the plan. She started cracking her whip in the air and shouted, "Hey! Blinker Stuckmen!"

"It's Baxter Stockman!" He yelled and shot a bunch of missiles at her.

Hikari dodged his first attack with agility, getting closer to the suit before her whip to try and cut the panel where the T-Pod was. The metal plate protecting it was too thick still. Stockman grabbed her again and brought her closer to see the fear on her face. However, he saw a smirk on her face instead as she used her energy blade to pierce the glass pane, stopping just in front of his face. He threw her off the building angrily, and she managed to save herself with the energy blade which she used to catch herself on the side of the building.

Everything was going according to plan as Mikey slid down the line with the beehive and stuck it into the hole she made. The turtles attacked him again as the bees attacked Stockman with no mercy. He fell off the edge and landed right below her. The suit writhed in agony as Stockman tried swatting the bees away from his face. Seeing the T-Pod exposed, she positioned herself and leaped off the wall. Her uni-weapon transforming into a spear once more as she landed with her spear facing down and stabbed the T-Pod. She pulled it out of the armor, which disarmed the entire thing with a bright beam of red light. She smirked with the others as they all watched a defeated and face-swollen Baxter Stockman crawl out of his suit.

Stockman looked up at the girl and turtles who had beaten him and whimpered, "So, we'll call it a tie?"

"Wanna call it a tie, Raph?" Leo asked in a cheeky tone.

Raph smiled as he cracked his knuckles, "Not yet."

Raph picked Stockman up by the collar and dragged him down into the alleyway below, throwing him straight into a dumpster. He looked Stockman in the eye and said, "Now it's a tie."

He slammed the dumpster shut and the team went home laughing and celebrating their victory. Master Splinter was pleased to hear that the threat they created was no more, "You all showed great wisdom in your defeat of the Stockmanpod."

"Does this mean we're not grounded anymore?" Leo asked.

After pondering under the hopeful gazes of his children, he answered, "Yes."

The team cheered in delight after beating Stockman _and_ having their punishment lifted.

"But first, Randori!" Splinter stood with his wooden sword. The teens saw this and started to flee for their lives. Splinter chuckled as he watched them run out of the dojo panicking.

* * *

Donnie knocked on Hikari's door, the fixed translator in hand. He figured he'd repair it for her as a practice on repairing Lightfurian tech. Luckily, he managed to get everything looking right. "Hey, Hikari. I managed to fix your translator."

Hikari opened the door and smiled, "T-hank you, Donnie."

Hearing her stuttering, Donnie looked at her neck and noted a missing translator, "You're not wearing it, and I didn't ask you to do that."

Hikari took a deep breath and scrunched her features into a look of effort and concentration, "Yes. You were right. I was too a-shamed-d to try and i-im…prove mys-elf. I will be a bet-ter s-stu…dent."

"Then you're already better than Mikey was when he started." Donnie beamed with pride. He spotted the book in her hand and looked back at her, "Are you ready?"

She nodded and let him into her room. Donnie sat down on the floor while Hikari opened the book and started to read aloud, "I am S-Sam. _Sam_ I am…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hikari turned out more bug-like than I originally planned, she's not a bug alien by any means. She just so happened to have bug-like characteristics, she didn't even know what bugs were because she didn't go past Nebula 74 until her field trip to the Milky Way.
> 
> Hikari is still trying to learn English without her translator to varying degrees. She can understand most common words since she constantly listens to the turtles talking as well as listening to music lyrics. Her speaking is still not to par and her reading is even worse. She'll get there eventually but she's a little stubborn, learning when you had a device to do it for you wasn't doing her any favors. I tried to keep it as realistic as I can. Listening is always easier to catch on if you listen to it again and again long enough, how much you actually understand is a different question. This was my experience watching Korean shows and living with a K-pop obsessed sister.
> 
> By the way, you have no idea how happy I was to write the infamous Leo fail scene. I usually rewatch the episodes to not only get the fight scenes down, but also to get a look at the environments around them so I can use them. Rewatching that scene moment by moment made my day XD


	8. Monkey Brains

It had been almost a month since Donnie agreed to help Leo by keeping an eye on Hikari's mental state after the Metalhead incident, and Donnie told him that he didn't think they could keep going. They've both been spending time with Hikari and she seemed mostly fine. Leo himself couldn't even pinpoint what he was looking for. Donnie even told him that he might be looking for something that just wasn't there. Leo wasn't sure anymore, he knew what he saw but what if it just wasn't what he thought it was? Maybe Hikari was fine and he was overreacting. Donnie convinced him to stop and soon things went back to their normal pace. However, Leo couldn't shake the feeling of uneasy and just pushed it to the back of his mind.

It was just another day of training at the Dojo. Leo was helping Hikari with her katas since this was the area she was least familiar with. She had gotten better but she still had issues keeping up with sensei.

Leo smiled with pride as her transitions between forms became smoother and more natural, "You're getting good at this, Hikari."

"I know, I've got a pretty good teacher."

Leo kept her words close to his heart, letting it swell just a little more under her attention. "Hold on, just fix your stance here." He moved her forearm to position then her calf a little back for more stability in the stance, "And Here."

"Thanks Leo."

Their eyes met again and Leo could feel himself getting lost in those silver eyes like he always did. Just before he could, he and Hikari were snapped out of the moment from Donnie and Mikey arguing. Hikari started paying more attention to the lecture Master Splinter was giving to Donnie than her own training.

Leo took this moment to process every moment he had shared with her. He wasn't stupid enough to deny that he had a crush on Hikari anymore, he might even be falling for her. But he also had to wonder if he should abandon that feeling or chase after it. What were the odds that Hikari liked him back? And what about Raph? Did he have feelings for her too? Would they end up fighting over her, like Yoshi and Saki did all those years ago?

But… Yoshi was still happy with Tang Shen, even if their story didn't have a happy ending. Wouldn't it be worth it to just try?

Leo decided to let himself indulge in the fantasy of having Hikari for himself, to have her by his side and be with him. The feeling of euphoria it gave him made up his mind. He didn't just want it in a dream, he wanted it in the real world too. He felt a little greedy for wanting it so badly but he almost didn't mind it.

* * *

Donnie retreated to his lab after training was over. He was busy finishing up on his plan. It had been in the works after the first day he met April but he felt like he finally accounted for every possible scenario. He was so busy racking his brain for anything he might have missed that he didn't hear his three brothers entering the lab or sense them looking over his shoulder.

"What'cha up to, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Donnie jumped then sagged in annoyance when he saw all of his brothers in the lab with the same curious smile on their faces. "Just putting the final touches to my master plan."

"Master plan?" Raph raised an eye ridge.

"To get April to hang out with me."

As expected, they all laughed at him. It wasn't his fault like he wanted to impress April. None of them even knew what he was going through, other than Leo. But Leo had the advantage of having Hikari live with them; Donnie needed to make the most of every second he could get with her.

"Try this. 'April, do you want to hang out with me?'." Leo spoke to him like a child,

"And how has that been working on Hikari?"

Leo was surprised to have it turn back on him, but he actually stood tall and looked Donnie in the eye as he answered, "Actually it's been working great, thank you very much."

"What? Did you ask her to help train on her form some more?" Raph joked, making Mikey laugh behind him.

Before Leo could retort, Hikari showed up by the lab door, "Leo? There you are, I've been waiting in your room for over fifteen minutes."

The statement silenced the four turtles, but they all had different looks on their faces. Raph and Mikey were grinning over the amount of teasing they could get away with this info. Donnie was surprised that Leo would even ask that of her. Leo was turning pale so quickly his emerald green skin was starting to look mint green, his eyes bulging and his mouth gaping like a fish trying to find some way to clear the misconception that he knew was in his brothers' minds.

"You were in his room?" Raph asked with a knowing smile, desperate to hear what his big brother told her that led to this moment.

Hikari was clueless to why the turtles were acting like this. She just tilted her head and answered slowly and uncertainly, "Yes? He offered to help me work on mediation and _he_ was the one kept insisting on punctuality."

"And he offered to do so in his room?"

"He said that his room would be best since it's free from any noise or distractions."

"Oh, I'm sure that's the only reason. Right, Leo?"

Instead of any kind of defense, Leo pounced on Raph and they started fighting in the lab. Hikari seemed confused but shrugged it off. This wasn't the first time she saw them fighting over nonsense.

Hikari then noticed Donnie working on something with a lot of colored lines. Curious, she decided to focus on that instead, "What's going on?"

"Donnie's making a love chart to try and win over April." Mikey answered, still enjoying the fight between Raph and Leo.

"I don't think that's how romance works, Donnie." Hikari stated, "At least the shows that April and I watched didn't have diagrams like this."

Donnie groaned as he explained again, "It's not a love chart, it's a flowchart that's gonna help me maximize my chances of success."

"Aww, that's so romantic." Mikey put his head into his hands.

Donnie puts the chart on a board and starts explaining the various scenarios he had thought of, as well as his ways to counter against them to his favor. Listening to all of this just confused her, "This seems so needlessly complicated. You know that you like her, right?"

"Well… Yes."

"So, why don't you tell her?"

"WHAT!?" Donnie's scream was so loud and abrupt that it stopped Leo and Raph's fight and drew both of them along with Mikey's attentions back to Donnie and Hikari.

"It makes for entertaining drama on TV, but is there a reason why you're not telling her about your feelings for her?" Hikari asked.

"Because I don't know if she likes me back?" Donnie said it like it was obvious, "Plus I'm a mutant and she's a human girl. We're too different."

"There are all kinds of alien couples from what I heard from my parents. Since when did being different become a bad thing?"

"It's just an Earth thing, I guess…"

Hikari frowned after hearing that. Earth did have a lot more rules when it came to socializing. "I guess I can see that. Things on Earth are weird."

"Amen, sister." Raph agreed.

The door opened again and April came through with her laptop in hand, "Guys, you'"

"Hi, April." Hikari and Mikey greeted cheerfully.

"AH! April, what's up?" Donnie was freaking out, quickly hiding his chart behind a Space Heroes poster.

Raph scoffed behind him, "Smooth, Donnie."

April didn't notice, instead opening her laptop and showing what she had found. There was a news recording about a missing scientist named Dr. Tyler Rockwell who disappeared one day and an interesting interview with Rockwell's colleague, Dr. Victor Falco. April suspected it might have something to do with the Kraang based on the pattern of them kidnapping scientists.

Leo wasn't convinced, "They might not be connected, April."

"I don't know, I can kind of see the connection. I think it's worth checking out, guys."

"See? Hikari agrees. We should go to that lab and look around."

"Yeah! April's right. We should go check it out. Oh, what's that? You've got mediation training? Guess it's just the two of us." Donnie led April out, throwing a wink and a thumbs up at his brothers and Hikari.

"I bet that wasn't on his flowchart." Leo flipped the flowchart back, only to see this very scenario on the chart, "Woah, it is. That is spooky."

Neither of the four knew how to take it so Hikari tried focusing on the positive, "Well I hope Donnie's plan works. He must really like April to work so hard for her."

"The kid's hopeless." Raph shook his head, "Sometimes I just wished he'd just see the light and move on."

"Love isn't that easy to break off, Raph. You'll know when you 'see the light' too." Hikari turned to Leo and asked, "So are we going to start our mediation session, Leo?"

The wide-eyed innocence he saw on her face along with his brothers barely hiding their laughter behind her made him avert his eyes, "Maybe another time."

"Ooh! I can show you the pinball machine again." Mikey suggested, pushing her over to the Space Heroes pinball machine. Hikari smiled, hiding a grimace from the times she tried before.

"Mikey, the last six times she tried it she barely got the ball up before it fell right into the hole."

"Hey!" She glared at Raph, "I'm getting better at it."

"What about some video games instead?"

She smiled at Mikey's idea, "Now that I'm good at."

"Wanna bet then?" Raph smirked, "Free for all. Losers do whatever the winner wants."

"Deal."

Mikey turned on the game console and pulled out their favorite racing game, Mario Kart. Hikari chose Toad, while Mikey chose Baby Mario. Leo was a Goomba and Raph was Luigi. They all raced down the track with Hikari lingering behind the three of them, they had the advantage of playing this for years and knowing the track like the back of their shells. The one thing she did have was luck on her side, she got a star and sent Leo flying off the map. She barely corrected herself before she flew off with him and set her sights on Raph.

Raph noticed her car coming up the side and tried ramming her off the edge. She swerved and recovered, gritting her teeth as she tried to slip past him. He did his best to block her at every attempt, and they make it into the last lap before Raph tried again. This time she saw it coming and slowed down enough for him to miss and fall off the map on his own. She laughed as Raph growled and threw the controller onto the ground. Now only Mikey was left in her path, she slowed him down with an ink attack and overtook him.

But Mikey wasn't going down without a fight, he knew there was a shortcut here and he snatched a mystery cube before heading down the hidden path. He managed to close the gap between them and threw the red shell he got at her. What he didn't count on was that she had a green shell to counter it. With timing and precision, she sniped the green shell into the red one, stopping any chance Mikey had of slowing her down as she passed the finish line.

"Last minute shell for the win!" Hikari shouted as she stood up and did a little victory dance.

"All my years of training… Wasted!" Mikey wailed as he flopped onto the floor.

"Alright, you won. What do you want us to do?" Leo asked.

"Hmm. I honestly didn't think that far." Hikari paced as she thought about it. A playful look appeared on her face when she decided. She figured she'd start with the one who started this, "Well, Raph. Since you have such an issue with my pinball skills, I want you to beat Leo's high-score on it."

"What?" He gawked at the task, "But that's-"

"What's that? I thought I heard a quitter." She said in a singsong tone.

Raph swallowed his protests and his pride and stomped over to the pinball machine. He was fuming as his first attempt came nowhere close to the six million high-score Leo had on it.

"Dang, Raph's never gonna leave that machine." Mikey remarked.

"Mikey?"

"Yes?" Mikey squeaked under her smirk.

"I want you to pick up 6 boxes of pizza. And you're not allowed a single bite of it."

"Not even mine?" Mikey pulled out the puppy-dog eyes to try and persuade her. She surely wasn't _that_ cruel…

But she didn't fall for it, "Nope. If you take one, then you don't get pizza and have to pick up another box for every bite. Don't test me, I'll know."

Mikey slumped in defeat and he dragged his feet out of the lair, trying to figure out how he was going to pull this off.

"Good luck, Mikey." Leo said, watching his little brother's retreating form.

"Leo?"

"Y-Yes?" Leo flinched as Hikari's face was right in front of him with her hands behind her back.

Her smirk turned into something more coy, "Come with me."

"Uhh Ok."

"We'll be back soon Raph." Hikari yelled as she and Leo leave into the sewers.

* * *

They went deeper and deeper into the sewers. Leo felt like his shell was too tight around him as Hikari led him away from the lair, "Where are we going?"

They finally entered an open area. It was a circular room with light peeking through the dried drain grate on top. The area itself seemed dried and unused, must be an old part of the city. They climbed down into the pit in the center of the room and Hikari put down the boombox she brought with her.

"I figured you wouldn't do it if your brothers were around." Hikari put her hand out and asked in an unusually shy tone, "Dance with me?"

"D-Dance?" Leo stammered bashfully as he tried to understand what she wanted from him, "I don't-"

"You're too strung up. You care so much and I admire that about you. But I think you need a chance to do something different." Hikari's hopeful look dropped when she saw how closed off Leo was being and gave him an out, "Unless you don't want to. That's fine. I'll just tell Raph that you did your part."

"N-No!" Leo quickly stopped her before folding in on himself nervously, "How do you want to do this?"

Leo seemed so unsure, clenching and releasing his fists like he didn't know what to do with himself. This was nothing like the confident leader she was used to. He looked like he wanted to put his hands on her shoulders, like in the movies. But Hikari decided otherwise, it looked like he'd passed out if he had to force himself to act like those people.

Hikari just reached out for his hands, "Give me your hands." He did and she rubbing her thumbs on the back of his hands in what she hoped to be a calming manner.

She and Leo started doing a little dance together, one put a foot forward while the other moved theirs back. Leo loosened up a little with the rhythm in their heads and they both shared a smile as Hikari twirled herself with Leo's arm. Leo was shocked while Hikari giggled at Leo's reaction before she was on the move again. She turned on the boombox she 'borrowed' from Mikey's room. She could only hope that all the practice she had to keep up with Mikey paid off and she didn't look like an idiot doing this. Hip-hop music started blasting through the speakers. She got into the groove and twirled around as she started dancing.

Leo was watching Hikari dance, she looked so carefree and confident. He couldn't help but go along with it, pulling out dance moves that he learned and laughing as he got into it too.

Hikari saw Leo and went in to join him, matching him beat by beat as the music changed into something livelier and faster. Both of them started moving closer, facing each other while their bodies performed a routine of dancing and sparring that just kept going as the music did.

The music stopped and they ended up in each other's arms again, both giggly and red-faced from all the dancing. Hikari had never seen Leo so free and happy. Just when she thought she had Leo figured out, she found a new side of him she would come to adore. She saw the joy in his eyes as their breathing matched in sync, "For a turtle who was so reluctant, you're pretty good at this."

It was at this moment that she felt something click. It felt like the same warm comfort that Leo always gave her when she was by his side, a sense of trust and faith she had in him since the moment they met. Yet it felt like more onto it now than she realized before.

Hikari wanted to say something about this new feeling she had when Mikey's voice snapped them out of the moment, "Leo? Hikari? I could use some help!"

They broke apart quickly and went over to where Mikey's cries for help were coming from. Nothing could've prepared her for the sight she witnessed. "Sweet mother of pizza, Mikey!" Leo cried out in disbelief.

"I can't help it!" Mikey wailed, his arms were shaking from carrying 20 boxes of freshly baked pizza.

Leo and Hikari each grabbed six boxes off his Mikey's hands. Hikari shook her head once the insanity sunk in, "I expected something like this, and somehow I'm still surprised when I see it."

"That's Mikey for ya." Leo said. They shared a smile before the three of them headed back to the lair.

"Raph! We're back and we have pizza." Hikari hollered as they entered.

That was enough for Raph to lose his focus and he couldn't do a thing to stop the ball from falling into the hole. "No!" Raph raged and kicked the pinball machine.

"Nice try, Raph." Hikari hid her smile and handed him a pizza box.

He took the box and went back to trying to beat the score. Hikari, Leo and Mikey sat down with a box each and watched some space heroes. Suddenly April and Donnie rushed into the lair with Donnie leaning on April's shoulders. They noticed the two and went over to see Donnie in bruises.

"Woah, what happened?" Raph asked, surprised by the beating Donnie took.

"Donnie got beat up by a lab monkey." April explained.

The others shared a look before Leo went to help Donnie lie down on the couch. "April, can you get an ice pack?"

"Are you gonna be ok, Donnie?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'll be fine."

With that reassurance, the brothers burst out laughing at Donnie. Even Hikari, who knew how humiliating it must've been, couldn't hold a chuckle in, but she stopped and tried to care for Donnie by checking his injuries. Once she saw no serious injuries, she left for the kitchen to look for April when she heard his brothers making fun of poor Donnie so badly.

"Hi, April."

"Let me guess, the guys are acting stupid again."

"Same as always."

"Kinda makes me glad I'm an only child."

"It actually made me wish I had siblings growing up. I had a friend back home. He was 2 Earth years younger than me and we always played together when we were little. He was a sweet spark, Mikey's a lot like him."

"You must miss him."

"I do, I wish I could tell him that I'm doing fine here on Earth." Hikari started laughing under her breath when she overheard Leo poking fun at Donnie, "Leo's pulling out the puns again. Shall we go save Donnie?"

The girls grinned as they had an idea. April and Hikari both walked out of the kitchen, each with an ice pack in hand. Raph saw them and shushed his brothers, "Shh. No more monkey puns."

April let him rest his head on her lap while she put the icepack on his forehead. Hikari decided to help by massaging the ice pack she had into one of the bigger bruises on his forearm. She pulled over a pizza box next to her and fed him a slice, "Here you go, Donnie."

Donnie wasn't sure why the girls were suddenly treating him so nice but the look on his brothers' faces, especially Leo's was enough to make him sit back and enjoy it. He wondered if their little sister had something to do with it.

That's when April noticed the pizza around them, "Why are stacks of fresh uneaten pizzas?

"Just a bet. Don't worry about it." Hikari waved it off as she fed Donnie another slice, "So, did you find Rockwell?"

"No, I think the monkey had something to do with it." Donnie mumbled as he took another bite.

"I did manage to get some of Rockwell's notes, give me some time to work on them." April said.

"I'll help you, Donnie should rest after all the hardships he went through."

The turtles all walked away, it wasn't worth poking fun at Donnie if he was too busy enjoying all the pampering. Hikari and April shared a look and high-fived as they left to do some research.

* * *

It took the girls hours of work, but they managed to decipher the notes. Hikari was just grateful she listened to enough of Donnie's babbles to understand them right. They read through the notes to learn something interesting. They took the laptop with them from the kitchen into the pit, where the turtles were chilling, to break the news. "Guys, we found something. These notes are hard to follow but it looks like Rockwell was able to modify mutagen."

"Why would he do that?" Leo asked.

"He thought it could use it to create a neurochemical that would temporarily give someone psychic abilities." April explained.

Raph scoffed at the idea, "You mean the monkey's psychic?"

"More like it was reading our emotions. After all, it was only hostile when Donnie was hostile."

"Well next time I'll be sure to think friendly thoughts while I'm beating a little sunshine into him."

"Ok, we need to track him down before he attacks someone else." Leo declared, "Let's go up to the surface, spread out and search."

"How're we gonna stay in contact?" Raph asked. Hikari had to agree, New York is pretty big even with the search radius.

"I have a little something that might help. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: The T-Phone!" He exclaimed and pulled out a device that looked like a turtle shell.

"Dude, I'm in charge of naming stuff. I would've called it… the T-Phone!"

"I did call it the T-Phone."

"Yeah, but I wanted to call it the T-Phone."

"And April, if you give me your number, I can patch it into our network."

"Sweet."

"See that? I got her number!"

"Her number's on the fridge, you dork."

"Baby steps." Hikari looked at Donnie and smiled supportively.

* * *

The team went off to their assigned locations. Hikari all but begged Leo to let her watch the theater district, which was within the radius of their search. Leo didn't think that the monkey would hide in a place with so many people roaming around. But Hikari took a page from Mikey's book and pulled a puppy-dog look on him, Leo folded and allowed her to search the area there.

Hikari's glow was hidden under the dazzling lights from signs and the buildings. The familiar lights always gave her a sense of ease. Hikari was brought back to the mission when she received a message from Raph.

**R: Focus, don't blow our cover.**

She rolled her eyes and opened the text app to reply when she heard a noise coming from an alleyway. She went to check with her hand near her uni-weapon when the monkey jumped out at her. It pounded on her, knocking her into the trash behind her, before running off. She got up and started running after it. She changed her T-Phone to walkie-talkie mode and informed the others, "I found him. He's heading down Eastman to Chinatown."

She continued running down the streets to Chinatown, stopping for a moment she had lost sight of the monkey. April's voice came through the T-Phone, "Guys, someone just spotted him on Bleaker."

Hikari opened the map on her phone like Donnie showed her and used it to make her way down near Bleaker. With the team constantly giving locations and directions, she did her best to try and catch up. But she only caught glimpses and went in circles. Eventually, the team found together in the center of Chinatown, but none of them knew where the monkey went.

The turtles started bickering when Hikari noticed April going into an alleyway. She followed behind and kept an eye out for the monkey. April was drawn to the dumpster there and she opened it, revealing the monkey inside. Hikari stepped in front of April, in case he jumped out at them. But April just gave Hikari a look before Hikari stepped aside, letting her do what she needed to. Hikari watched as April approached the monkey calmly and led him out of the dumpster. Now that he was out in the light, Hikari dropped her hand away from her uni-weapon. He didn't look like he was going to attack her at all, he was scared.

Just like she was when the Kraang had her captive.

Suddenly, she sensed something. She activated her guard into a shield and put her arm out in time to deflect the kusarigama chain away from the monkey.

"Hikari, what the heck was that?" Donnie asked as Mikey retracted his chain.

Hikari kept her arm stretched out, stopping the turtles from getting closer to April and the monkey, "He's not our enemy."

The monkey was freaking out after having a chain coming at him, he looked like he was going to run again but April stopped him, "Don't run! Please, we don't want to hurt you."

Seeing the calm controlled expression on April's face helped relax him. Once Hikari noticed the turtles weren't going to charge into combat, she dropped her arm and said, "April's got it under control."

"Well we got the monkey, but we're nowhere closer to finding Dr. Rockwell." Raph stated.

"Actually, we're a lot closer than we think." April said, "I think this is Dr. Rockwell."

The team was shocked to hear it, but it made sense. The monkey did come from the lab Rockwell was working in and he was experimenting with mutagen, "He must've accidentally mutated himself."

"We should take him back to his lab. Maybe Falco could help him."

Rockwell went berserk after hearing that. He pushed April and started running down the street. Mikey acted and tied him up with his kusarigama again. Donnie went to help April while Hikari just stared in horror.

"I don't think we should… He's really scared." Hikari muttered, still staring at Rockwell.

"It's the best thing we can do for him." Leo reasoned.

"What if we take him with us?"

"We're not bringing him with us to the lair."

"Fine, but we're not taking him to Falco." She turned to face Leo, "Can't you see he's terrified? We can't send him back there."

"He's a monkey with no clear control and you want us to let him go?"

"Yes. You did the same for me."

"You're different. You're sane."

"That doesn't mean he deserves to be experimented on. Why can't you understand?" She pleaded with Leo, but she could tell he wasn't convinced. She hardened her expression and spoke with a cold tone, "I won't let you."

Hikari activated her energy blade and cut the chain in half, causing Mikey to fly backward and fall over. She gave Rockwell a look and the two of them ran off into the streets together.

"Hikari, wait!" Leo cried out as her shadow disappeared.

Raph snapped out of his shock and shouted, "Has she lost her mind?"

"You were right, Leo…" Donnie said in disbelief.

"How are we gonna find her?" Mikey asked his brothers.

Donnie pulled out his T-Phone and opened his map, "I've added trackers in the T-Phone, we can follow her."

Leo nodded and turned to April, "April, call Falco and tell him we found Rockwell. We need to go calm Hikari down."

The turtles left to follow Hikari's trail. The headstart she got had put quite a bit of distance between them but Hikari soon stopped at a place about ten blocks away from them. As they ran across the rooftops, Mikey was still mulling over what just happened. "I can't believe Hikari did that."

"She's experiencing emotional distress after seeing Rockwell's panic and her argument with Leo, she's not acting like she normally does." Donnie explained, noting the sad look on his little brother's face.

"That's still no reason to turn against us like that." Raph retorted, "We're just doing what's right."

"Hikari won't see it that way. She just sees it as us giving up someone who escaped and sending them back." Leo sighed, "What was I thinking?"

"Talk to her about this later." Donnie said, "There is something about Rockwell's reaction that rubbed me the wrong way. If he and Falco were colleagues, why did he act so scared that Hikari would react like that?"

"Unless Falco was keeping him captive." Leo deduced.

"Rockwell wasn't the one doing the experiment. He's the experiment."

After that horrifying realization, Leo pulled out his T-Phone and called April, "April? Did you call Falco already?"

"Yeah, I sent him the address."

"Sewer apples… He's been lying the whole time."

"What?"

"We'll fill you in later." Leo hung up and turned to his brothers, "We've gotta hurry."

* * *

Hikari had been running for so long she couldn't feel her legs anymore. That didn't matter, she had to keep running. She wasn't going to send Rockwell back. She wasn't going back.

She stopped and realized that she had no idea where she was, but she needed to hide and stay out of the light. She looked around and spotted a small opening in an alleyway.

"This way." She pointed as she and Rockwell crawled into an abandoned building. She used her uni-weapon as a torch and looked around. It wasn't very clean and it looked like someone else was squatting in here before. But it was empty right now and that was good enough for her.

"You should be safe here." She said to Rockwell before collapsing against a wall, "I can't believe I just did that…"

Now that she could feel her heart stop racing, the reality of what she just did hit her like an asteroid. She had just gone up against Leo and attacked them. How was she ever going to gain their trust again? Would they even give her a second choice? What was she going to do now?

As she sat there in silence with her thoughts, Rockwell came up to her and made a few noises. Unfortunately, her translator didn't account for animals or what most of alien society deemed lesser life forms. She assumed that he felt her pain and was expressing empathy. She decided to focus on Rockwell instead.

Before going any further, she had to ask him to know the truth, "Was Falco the one who did this to you?"

Rockwell nodded and Hikari clenched her jaw, "That sick manipulative man. I'll stop him, you won't have to worry about him any longer."

"A sweet sentiment, my dear." Hikari tensed and got into combat position as the voice echoed through the room, "But you have something that belongs to me."

A man walked into the room they were in, one she could only assume was Dr. Victor Falco.

"How did you-?" Hikari tried to ask before Falco cut her off.

"Your team is on their way here. They seem to care about you, even after you broke their hearts."

"You don't know anything about us."

"Oh, I do. You see, I perfected what I had left from him. Your mind is an open book to me, my dear. And you are certainly an interesting one."

"Shut up!" She shouted as she activated her whip, swinging it at him. But Falco was always one step ahead of her, sidestepping and dodging all of her attacks. This frustrated her as she changed her whip into a spear, charging straight at him.

Falco scoffed at the girl, moving out of the way before kicking her wrist. He sent the weapon flying out of her hand and out of reach. The girl got even angrier as she started fighting hand-to-hand, which ended with him holding her by the neck and in his grasp. "I can see every move you think of. You're no match for me."

"Not on her own, maybe." Leonardo said as he entered the room with his brothers, "Let's change those odds."

"Oh, look. Your _guardian_ has come to save you. That's what you call him, right?" Falco mocked as Hikari scratched his hand with her nails but he chose not to punish her… yet.

"Let her go, Falco." Leo demanded. "We know it was you who mutated Rockwell."

"Yes, I needed a source. The neurochemicals from his mutant brain have already begun changing me. Your minds are mine!"

"So this was your plan all along."

"Of course. No man-" Falco punched Hikari in the throat before dropping her on the ground, "or alien can beat you when you know his every thought."

"Hikari!"

"That's it." Raph growled, "I'm gonna smack-"

"The white off my lab coat? How humorous."

"We'll see about that." Raph ran at Falco with a barrage of attacks. But like with Hikari earlier, Falco could easily see every move before it happened. He dodged every heavy kick and punch Raph threw until he was worn out. Falco took the chance to sneak behind him and grab one of his sais, using the blunt end to knock him down before kicking him at Donnie and Mikey.

Leo did his best with his katanas, attacking him with precision and focus. But that didn't matter when Falco could see where his swings were going and smirked at Leo as he moved with ease. He disarmed Leo with Raph's sai, flinging them towards Donnie and Mikey, before knocking him out.

Falco stepped over to face Mikey and Donnie, leaving Hikari wheezing on the floor as she slowly recovered. If she were human, that punch might've killed her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rockwell coming over to her.

"Dr. Rockwell, what are you doing?" She asked in a raspy voice, "Get out before-"

Rockwell's face shifted to anger as he howled and pounced on Falco as he was talking to Donnie. Rockwell didn't do much before Falco knocked him out with the sai too, "Oh Tyler, you were always so dramatic."

That small frame of time was enough for Donnie to find the space between his thoughts, like Splinter said. He left his mind a blank, just acting and reacting to everything Falco did. He managed to defeat Falco with a backflip and a barrage of punches, which knocked him into the wall and rendering him unconscious.

Leo helped Hikari off the ground and they moved over to where the others were.

"Donnie, you were amazing." She cheered with her raspy voice before letting out a few coughs.

"Nice work there." Raph praised him.

"Thanks. How's your throat?"

"Nothing a few tubs of ice cream can't fix."

"What did I tell you about those backflips, huh?" Mikey said smugly, "Pretty cool."

"Now that everyone's ok, let's see what Falco knows about the Kraang." Donnie looked to see that Falco has disappeared and probably escaped, "He's gone?"

Hikari heard Rockwell waking up and moved towards him, "Dr. Rockwell, thank you."

Rockwell shared a look with Hikari and the others before jumping out of the building.

"I'm not psychic, but I think he's thanking us back." Donnie said, making Hikari smile.

"Uh, if he reacts to angry thoughts, is New York city really the best place for him?" Raph pointed out.

As he said that, they could hear the sounds of car horns and angry drivers before the frighten screams started. They winced and Hikari said nervously, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

The team made it back to the lair now that they've solved Rockwell's 'disappearance'. Leo waited until the others left before pulling Hikari into the kitchen. "Hikari, I wanted to apologize. You were right to not trust Falco and I was wrong for not listening to you."

"Leo, I don't care about that anymore. I'm just happy you're not upset."

"Why would I be upset? I thought you were gonna be upset. I was actually going to hand Rockwell back to his tormentor."

"I guess we're both not upset then." They both laughed awkwardly at that.

However, Hikari could still see the guilt in those dark blue eyes. She knew he might never let it go until she told him so, "I forgive you, Leo."

Leo looked shocked before returning a smile, "I forgive you too."

Hikari suddenly felt like the air was thinning and her skin was glowing pink, she mumbled before rushing into her room, "I'm going to go to bed now. Night."

Now in the safety of her room, she let herself focus on those thoughts that were on her mind. From the dance they shared today to the very first night she stayed in the lair, she looked back at all the moments she had shared with Leo. The feeling she always felt when he was around, that feeling of security and trust had another layer that she never looked into until today. It now had a name and Hikari spent the night thinking about it.

* * *

The next day, Master Splinter called April into the dojo to speak with her. Hikari wasn't sure what it was about, but she needed to talk to April as soon as she could. She saw April coming out of the dojo, she thought about calling for her but she noticed Donnie in a forced casual pose leaning against the doorway. She figured it'd be best to let that play out first.

"Hey, April. Wanna hang out tonight?" Donnie asked her.

"That sounds great, Donnie. But I can't, I'm training with Splinter to be a kunoichi."

"Ah…" Hikari noticed him leaning his head into the room slightly before talking to her again, "Well then, maybe we can… train together sometimes."

Hikari giggled behind her hand over how corny the line sounded with Donnie making his voice deeper. April didn't seem to think so, "Sounds great."

She walked away before Donnie rushed over to Hikari and Raph who was just reading in the pit, "You see, my flowchart is awesome!"

Hikari rolled her eyes before standing up and going after April, "April! I need to talk to you." Before she could say another word, Hikari pulled April into her room, "First of all, I'm so happy that you're gonna be a kunoichi too. This is gonna be awesome!"

"Thanks, Hikari. I can't wait to kick butt with you guys." April said excitedly, "What's the second thing?"

"I'm going to tell Leo about my feelings for him."

"You're gonna- That is great! Why wasn't this the first thing you told me?" April said the last part in a jokingly accusatory tone.

Hikari chuckled bashfully before continuing, "I was hoping to get some advice from you. I spent the night figuring everything out and I want to do this right."

"Well, I've got a great idea. There's a noodle place I found that I've been meaning to show you guys. The food there is great and I'm sure they'll be happy to go somewhere new. Once the guys are distracted, you can pull Leo away and confess to him there."

Hikari tried picturing the idea in her head. A day out of the sewers and a new place to explore with Leo, "That does sound nice."

"Great, we'll go tomorrow." April beamed as they both continued talking about April's training and more.


	9. Never Say Xever

Hikari made extra care with her appearance today before she left. Now she understood why Donnie ended up making a whole chart for this, all she could think about was what could go wrong. As she picked out a shirt of a cat swallowing a nexus and brushed her hair, she held onto her courage with the encouragement she'd gotten. Once she got the text message from April, she put on a blue hoodie instead of her red leather jacket and went up to the surface with the turtles to meet up with her.

April was walking side by side with Hikari while the turtles trailed behind them. She knew Hikari was nervous about this. Alien or not, it was never easy to confess your feelings to someone, especially the first time around. She kept giving Hikari reassuring looks until they approached the movie theater. She could sense Hikari's growing anxiety and it was starting to get on her too. She got a little frustrated and snapped at them, "You guys wanna speed this up a little?"

"Are you saying turtles are slow?" Donnie asked with his head popping up in the empty ticket booth.

"That's a hurtful stereotype." Mikey frowned as he hid behind a wall.

"Trust us, April. We're better off keeping a _low_ profile." Leo explained nervously, "We find that people treat us better when they don't know we actually exist."

It always made Hikari sad every time the turtles had to hide just to avoid being scrutinized by the public, especially since she looked human enough to blend in despite not even being from Earth. But tonight was going to be a good one, she was going to make sure of it.

April, realizing her mistake, quickly apologized and did her best to hide why she really was anxious about tonight going right, "Sorry, I'm so excited to get you out of the sewers for a change."

"What are you talking about?" Raph questioned, "We go out all the time."

"Yeah, but tonight you're gonna do something besides hitting people."

"Aww."

Hikari giggled at how disappointed Raph sounded. "It's ok, Raph. I'll still kick your butt in training tomorrow."

"You wish, snowflake."

April refocused the conversation away from their bickering, "Trust me, you're gonna love this noodle place I found."

"And you're sure we'll be welcomed?" Donnie asked anxiously.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Murakami doesn't care what you look like. In fact, he won't even know what you look like. He's blind."

"Awesome!" Mikey cheered, much to everyone's horror, until he caught on, "I mean for us, obviously."

The group moved down into Chinatown and made it to the block before noticing some odd shadows and roughhousing in the noodle shop. "Oh no…" April muttered.

They approached the shop quietly and peeked in through the windows. They spotted three thugs trashing the place, destroying plates and furniture. One of them was harassing a man in a uniform, who must be Mr. Murakami.

"Who are those creeps?" Raph asked.

"The purple dragons. They think they own the streets around here."

Leo shrugged, "So much for not hitting people tonight."

"Oh well." Raph said, much happier now that he had someone to fight.

Hikari sighed as she pulled out her uni-weapon, she noticed April looking at her and mouthing 'sorry'. Hikari just smiled and shook her head, when did they ever get a real break after all?

She went in after the turtles as Mikey announced their entrance, "Booyakasha!"

"Alright, let him go. You don't want any trouble." Leo said in his confident leader voice.

Raph smiled behind Leo with his sais out, "We, on the other hand, do."

She stood by them in position as the three purple dragon members just stared at them, "Woah, those guys were serious. There really are giant turtles, and they've got a little girl following them."

"You've heard of us?" Mikey looked to the others excitedly, "Dudes, we're famous!"

"That's bad."

"Oh right."

"Whatever you are, this neighbor is ours." The skinny thug said, "So, why don't you slither back to the ocean you came from and leave the sweetheart behind?"

"Sweetheart?" Hikari's eye twitched as she activated her whip with a loud crack, "You ruined my evening. You attacked a helpless man. You're going down, _sweetheart_."

"Get 'em!" The leader yelled and his minions acted on command. The one with a mallet lunged at them and tried for a hit, Leo dodged it before Mikey jumped on his shell and sent the man into the wall with a spin kick. He tried attacking Raph but got destroyed in one solid punch. The biggest one went after Donnie and Mikey but it didn't take much effort from the two to take care of the thug.

Hikari went after the leader, cracking her whip at him and leaving a mark with every blow. It was more like ribbon dancing than fighting as she slowly back him away towards the entrance. He reached for the cooking station and grabbed a cleaver, swinging it at her to force her back. Leo jumped in at this point, standing between Hikari and the leader. He quickly disarmed the leader with a few punches and kicks before the leader was sliding across the counter. Leo had him pinned to the wall but he decided to let them go, much to her annoyance.

"Come on, let's go." The leader gave them all a stink eye before leaving with his minions, "This ain't over, greenie!"

"Greenie? Really?" Donnie said unamused, "I wonder how many brain cells he put together to work on that."

Hikari was still stuck on the fact the purple dragons just left so casual after the team kicked their butts onto the counter. She knew they didn't get the message and it frustrated her. But more than anything, his mercy reminded her that none of her friends knew what she did as she clenched her sweaty palms.

"Why did you let them go like that?" She asked, even though she knew.

"They weren't exactly a threat. They had enough." Leo answered, exactly the way she knew he would.

"Dude! They were beating up a blind guy. There's no _enough_. Now they'll think we're wimps who don't have the guts to finish the job."

Their argument was cut off as April bring Murakami back into his shop, "Wow, that was great you guys."

"My friends, I'm indebted to you." Murakami said sincerely, "Please allow me to make you a meal, free of charge."

Raph was pleased with the idea, "I think we can allow that."

"What is your favorite dish?"

Hikari rolled her eyes as the four brothers shouted with stars in their eyes, "Pizza!"

* * *

While Murakami-san was making their dishes, April excused herself and Hikari before pulling her into the girl's bathroom. "I'm so sorry, I should've-"

"Should've what? Known that the purple dragon would attack? April, we're ninjas. We're basically drawn to trouble like light to a black hole."

"I hope this didn't affect your plans."

"No, something else did. I don't think I'm going to do it tonight." Hikari smiled sadly. She was naïve to think that she could just confess to Leo and everything would work itself out. Leo was a good person, and that was part of why she liked him. He was a shining hero and she was a wounded soldier left behind. To be in a relationship would mean confessing everything, even all the wounds she hid from them. She needed to tell him the truth, about everything. It wasn't fair to him if he got into a relationship with a false image of her.

"Hikari…" April looked so guilty that Hikari almost laughed at how ridiculous it was.

"It has nothing to do with you, so don't worry about it. I promised myself that tonight was going to be a good night. Let's just enjoy it."

Hikari and April went back to the others just in time for Murakami-san to serve their food. In front of Hikari and the turtles were his new creations, pizza gyozas. Curious, she picked one up off her plate and took a bite of it as the others did. The moment the flavor hit her, her silver eyes widened and she was glowing again. She quickly finished the gyoza in one bite, relishing the flavor before she went back for another. She peeked over to see the reactions of her team and they were all pretty impressed with it too.

"Now I get why you said eating is half the fun of living, Mikey."

"Told you." Mikey mumbled as he stuffed another gyoza into his mouth.

Leo finished his bite and asked, "Murakami-san, do the purple dragons come around a lot?"

"Yes. They demand protection money, but I refuse to pay. They will surely return."

"Well, they wouldn't if someone hadn't wimped out." Raph gave Leo a pointed look, making Leo drop his head in doubt.

Mikey took the opportunity and took the rest of Leo's gyozas, making Leo glare at his antics while Mikey smiled unashamed. Hikari rolled her eyes and pushed her plate to Leo, "Here, I'm done for the night."

"You sure? You looked like you were really looking forward to tonight."

"Tonight… went differently than I hoped." Hikari hid her disappointment with a smile, "Just enjoy the gyoza before Mikey takes them again."

* * *

The team made it back after their night out. Her attempt tonight was a complete failure and now she was left with more concerns than just her outfit. She did well to hide her more violent actions towards the Kraang and she was always scared how the turtles were going to take it if they found out. Now, she had to tell them but she didn't know where to start. Was it better to pull Leo aside and tell him? Would it be easier if she just told them right now?

The brothers were arguing again, this time it was Raph continuing his argument with Leo about sparing the purple dragon. Although the argument really lost its track when Mikey and Donnie added their inputs. She would be laughing at their antics if she wasn't osing her mind over thisl.

"The point is that we can't go soft on them." Raph concluded.

"To show mercy is not soft. It is a sign of true strength." Master Splinter said as he came out into the pit.

"But sensei, they're criminals, this is war."

"Raph is right." Hikari blurted.

"See?" Raph stood smugly before realizing, "What, wait?"

Her heart raced as she felt five pairs of eyes on her, waiting for her to continue. Her throat dried up and those sharp words were digging into her flesh. She couldn't tell them everything, not like this. So she implied it instead, "I don't think the purple dragons will stop until someone makes them stop. Why shouldn't we stop it?"

Splinter looked at the two before answering, "A dianion of the 16th century once said, "In times of peace, never forget about the possibility of war. In times of war, never forget compassion."

Hikari was annoyed with Splinter's answer. Compassion only worked when they deserve it. The purple dragon didn't show any when they threatened Murakami, and she definitely didn't see it that day on the ship. She kept her objections to herself, not wanting to start an argument with Splinter in front of the others.

Raph didn't have the same idea, "I'm guessing that guy must've lost a lot of wars."

Splinter jumped forward with his jade cane and stopped just before the end could touch Raph's face. "See? Mercy." Splinter said before whacking Raph's arm with the cane instead.

"Compassion is great. But like Hikari said, the purple dragon aren't gonna leave Murakami alone."

That was when Leo gave them a solution, "So, we'll track down the dragons and make sure they get the message." Leo ended the threat by punching into his fist, "Special delivery."

It was enough to help Hikari ground herself again. She never realized how often the little dorky things Leo did help to calm her down by making her laugh or giving her relief in a new world that was out to get them. Knowing how much she needed Leo made her even more worried about telling him everything.

Raph just reacted the same way he did whenever Leo did something dorky, "Was that supposed to sound tough… or stupid?"

"How are we gonna find them? We can't talk to anyone."

"Not all of us." She pointed out as she pulled out her T-Phone.

* * *

Hikari and April walked the streets to ask around. Hikari disguised herself more since she didn't want to risk any gang members pointing her out. Her hay-colored hair and silver eyes were far too distinct to blend in with other humans.

April approached the fishmonger, "Excuse me sir, I'm looking for the purple dragons."

"I don't know anything about them."

"You can trust us, we're cops." Hikari said, still keeping her face hidden with her hoodie.

"You look a little young to be cops."

"We're undercover." April deflected, "We had to do our best not to draw suspicion."

Hikari chose then to step in, "We're looking to take them down. If you wanna save the money you've been giving them, we could use all the info we can get."

The fishmonger gave the girls one more glance before telling them what he knew about the purple dragon, their identities and the places they visited. With the information, they needed they started heading back to the lair to come up with a plan.

"How did you do that?" April wondered.

"TV has been taught me so much." Hikari answered.

* * *

Night fell and the team moved swiftly to the tattoo shop the man told them about, camping out and watching for purple dragon activity. Soon the skinny leader, Fong, came out of the shop and started walking back to their hideout. The team tailed him from the shadows and soon arrived at an old fortune cookie factory.

They watched Fong go inside before heading to the rooftops to find an entry point. They watched as Fong stopped on a second-floor platform and talking to someone who was standing against the wall they were facing, making it impossible for them to see.

Now that they knew where Fong was, they leaped into the building through the window with their weapons drawn and their confidence at their peak. Only for it to drop when they saw the faces of the people Fong was speaking to.

"Oh man… It's my ex-friend, Chris Bradford." Mike winced, "And that other guy."

"Xever." Hikari hissed his name. After the last time they fought, she had wanted to get a second shot at him.

"Oh, you do remember me. I'm charmed." Xever laughed as he pulled out his knives, "I'll make sure to save you last while I carve into their shells."

The fight began but Hikari only had one real target. She cracked her whip at Xever, making him jump back before rushing at her. He aimed a kick to her face which she deflected with her shield. She changed it into its energy blade form and started her counterattack, using her blade to force him back and using her whip to deal more damage. Her training with Leo definitely paid off as she kept up with Xever's speed better than the first time, but she was still overwhelmed by the constant movement despite her strategy.

He pinned her with his blade pointed at her, similar to the last time. She did her best to push back with her energy blade, but it was taking everything she had to keep this standstill going.

"You're still as weak as the first time, I'll make sure you watch the life drain from their eyes."

The words Xever said struck a nerve as her pupils shrank and her hands started shaking. Her mind was no longer in the moment, only on the dying bursts of energies she remembered and felt in her soul.

"I won't let you." Hikari snapped as she pushed his blade to the side. It created an opening and she swung her whip at his neck, but it only managed to cut his bicep as his arm reacted to protect, the charged whip slicing into his muscle as it started bleeding. Hikari froze as she watched the blood hit the floor, she'd never seriously hurt a human before.

Xever stepped back from the attack, looked at it and smiled sadistically as he flicked his butterfly knife around, "You'll pay for that."

Hikari put her guard up to her face but luckily Raph and Leo kicked him away from her, knocking him down to the lower floor. The team were losing and they became outnumbered very quickly as foot soldiers started coming through the walls.

With no other choice, Leo called for a retreat. "Team, fall back!"

"We're giving up? Again? Are you kidding me?" Raph shouted angrily as he kept deflecting incoming projectiles.

Leo was getting fed up, "Yes. It's all part of my hilarious 'let's all live' routine."

With that, the team all made their way back to the window they came through and slipped back into the city. Hikari felt her body moving with Leo's orders but her mind was a blank at this point. She could still see the moment as if someone imprinted it as a still-shot into her mind forever. Xever's last words snapped her out of her state, "Stay here and fight, you cold-blooded cowards!"

That was how badly she knew they were in over their heads.

* * *

Retreating from the fight didn't mean the battle was over. Raph's frustrations with Leo kept growing as they made it back to the lair. He punched the training dummy in the pit to let off all the steam he had, "Man, could that fight have been any more embarrassing?"

"We could've been hit in the face with pies." Mikey said as he lied flat on his plastron.

"Not now, Mikey." Hikari muttered, still mulling over her attack on Xever. She started wondering why she was so troubled with this one when she was more than willing to cut the Kraang open and leave them on the ground. Now that she knew her enemies weren't just the Kraang, she should be willing to do the same to people like Xever. So why did seeing the blood dripping down his arm stun her so much?

Hikari was brought out of her thoughts when Splinter came to stop Leo and Raph's argument, "Raphael, this Xever can cross lines even you won't. This makes him dangerous, but it doesn't make him strong."

"But Xever wins fights." Raph retorted, "Isn't that what matters? And he never shows anyone _mercy_."

"So, you're saying we should stoop down to his level." Leo crossed his arms.

"I'm saying we shouldn't be afraid to get our hands dirty."

"Do you honestly think you could go as far as Xever?" Hikari interrupted as she got in Raph's face, "People like him, he'd do anything to get the job done. Can you tell me that you'd go as far as kill someone like Xever to make a point?"

Raph was flabbergasted by Hikari's reaction, "What? I-"

Raph's response was cut off when Splinter put his hand up, "Hikari, come with me."

* * *

She could feel the weight of the brothers' stares as she followed Splinter into the dojo. He didn't say anything as he set up his table. "Sensei?" She asked, uncertain of what to do.

"Sit."

She did so and did her best not to squirm under his gaze, "Is this about what I said?"

"Yes. And no. I didn't summon you here because of what you _said_ , I want to hear more about what you _meant_. You had more to say earlier but you stopped, I want to hear what you have to say."

Hikari bit her lip. Splinter wasn't the first person she wanted to tell this to, but he might also be the most forgiving one to talk to about this. She decided to test the waters first, "I don't think mercy is something we should just give away like that. Not everyone deserves it."

Splinter stroked his beard for a moment before asking her, "No. But is it up for us to decide who deserves it?"

To her horror, Splinter brought out the kusarigama he had lent her when she first arrived. He placed it on the table then looked her in the eye, "Tell me how you decided when you wielded this."

"Sensei…" She started but she wasn't sure what was going to come out of her mouth.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice? You cannot clean blood with a simple wipe, not on your blade or your hands."

"I don't care about that anymore."

"You seemed against it when Raphael spoke about it himself."

Hikari averted her eyes, "I just don't think they need to worry about that right now."

"And what makes you think you should taint your own hands for vengeance?"

That was enough to set Hikari off as she glared at Splinter for the first time, "Are you telling me that they didn't deserve it? They killed my parents and my cluster, and for what? I don't even know! Why should I care if I take a few lives for their sakes?"

But Splinter didn't flinch at her words, he only asked her, "Is it for their sakes?"

"Huh?" Hikari's fury quelled as Splinter continued.

"Why do you want to kill the Kraang? Is it for your family? Or is it because of your anger?"

"Why can't it be both? Why should I let them live when they could slaughter so easily?"

"You've been killing Kraang?" Leo's voice came from the door, sending a chill down her spine.

Hikari turned to see not just Leo but all of them by the door listening into their argument, and her worst confession. Her breathing fastened as she felt her body lock up, "Leo…"

"How could you?" Leo walked into the dojo and wasted no time, "How long have you been doing this?"

"I…"

"You didn't even have to, did you? You just killed them because you could."

"Leonardo." Splinter said with a warning tone, but Leo didn't yield.

"Why? She's been lying to us! What about tonight? Would _you_ have killed Xever if we didn't stop you?"

Just the accusation alone was enough to crack her. She stumbled back as she looked away from Leo in shame. It was her biggest nightmare and she had to escape from it. She moved past him and ran out the door, neither of the other brothers even trying to stop her. Leo was not ready to let this go. "Get back here!" He shouted as he turned to go after her.

"Leonardo! Stop!" Splinter's words froze him in place, "What were you thinking? Not only were you… and your brothers" Splinter looked over to the door as their heads retreated, "listening in to a private conversation, you chose to confront her without listening to her?"

"She told us everything she needed to." Leo said with gritted teeth.

"Did she? Because she was talking to me and I still had questions for her." Splinter lectured him, "You jumped to conclusions and attacked her without any of the mercy you showed your enemies. Perhaps this is a lesson you should focus on as well."

Splinter went back into his room to meditate, leaving Leo and his brothers to deal with the fallout they created.

* * *

Hikari just wanted to get out of the lair, she didn't want to be alone but she didn't talk to anyone either. As kind as April was, she'd just try to force something out of her. So, she went to the only place she could think of that wouldn't judge her. She jumped the rooftops and heading for Murakami's noodle shop.

"Welcome." Murakami's warm voice chimed through the small humble shop.

Hikari sat down at the same spot as before, "Hello, Murakami-san."

"Hikari-san? Is that you?" He now turned towards her.

"Yes."

"You sound sad." He frowns.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Murakami didn't say anything after that. She lied her head on the counter as she listened to the sound of chopping and burning fire, numbing herself to everything else. Suddenly Murakami slid a plate of gyozas in front of her, "Here. Free of charge."

The aroma that came from it was enough for her stomach to cry out. She smiled, even if she knew he couldn't see it, and picked up a pizza gyoza off the plate, "You know you shouldn't keep doing that, I don't think it's good business."

"What are a few gyozas for a broken heart?"

His kindness and understanding without a shared word made her grateful she came here, "Thank you, Murakami-san."

Murakami nodded sincerely before going back to his work. As she was eating, her T-Phone started to ring. Donnie's picture was on the screen and she rolled her eyes. Leo must've gotten him to call her instead of doing it himself. She let the phone ring until the call dropped. She sighed and opened her phone gallery to find her favorite photo, a picture of Leo she snuck during one of Space Heroes viewings.

She wondered if he'll ever look at her the same way again.

Suddenly the phone started ringing again, this time it was Mikey. "Ugh… Can you guys take a hint?" Hikari groaned before putting her T-Phone on mute. She put the phone on the counter face down as she started mope-eating her gyozas.

Just then, she sensed something that made her spine stiffen. She grabbed the T-Phone in hand and said, "Murakami-san, go and hide."

Right as he headed for the back room, Foot soldiers started coming into the shop. "You people really like picking bad nights to fight." She pulled out her uni-weapon, turning it into a whip once again.

Xever then made his entrance among the parting ninjas, "Ah. The little spitfire. How have you been, sweetheart?"

"Great, he got you to call me that too?" Her eyes drifted over to the injury she made, and she started taunting him, "How's your arm?"

"You've got a fire burning strong, I'll miss that." He snapped his fingers and some of the ninjas put a knife on Murakami's neck, she glared at that but Xever just looked smug, "I'll make it easy on you, come with us now and he will be unharmed. Attack and everything you do will be done on him."

With no choice, she put her hands up and pressed the distress button on the T-Phone. No one else noticed as they pushed her front into the counter, and she made sure the T-Phone slid across and over it.

"Hope you enjoy your hollow victory." She grunted as they hoisted her to her feet after tying her arms behind her back.

"Shredder is going to enjoy breaking you, girl." Xever grinned as he grabbed her face. She shook him off and was led out of the shop along with Murakami.

* * *

Back in the lair, the turtles were in a frenzy. Not only did they just find out that Hikari was more unstable than they knew, but she had gone up to the surface without anyone else. Leo won't lie and say he wasn't worried. Hikari didn't handle well with being on her own, and she had never gone far at least one of them or April by her side.

Leo knew that this was because of him, but he didn't feel like he should blame himself for Hikari's actions. She chose to run away when he wanted to know the truth. Now she had everyone else going crazy trying to find her, the Foot and the Purple Dragon were still after them and he knew she couldn't take them all alone.

He asked Donnie and Mikey to call her. He was self-aware enough to know she wouldn't answer if he called her. Unfortunately, she didn't answer any of them.

"She's not picking up." Donnie said after his fourth attempt.

"Can't we just track her like before?" Leo asked.

"Do you really want to show up now?" Raph raised an eye ridge, "She doesn't want to see us, just let her do her thing."

"Guys! She activated her distress signal." Donnie pinpointed her position just as April called him, he answered and tried to explain the situation, "April, now's not a good time."

"Donnie, it's Mr. Murakami. He's gone!"

"What?"

"I went in to check on him and I found a note on the wall. 'No more running. If you want the old man and the girl back, meet us at the rooftop of the Fortune Cookie Factory'. Do they mean-"

"Yeah, Hikari's gone too. Her distress signal is coming from the shop."

"I found it. Her T-Phone was behind the counter." April said. What she didn't mention was the picture of Leo Hikari was looking at on the screen after she stopped it.

"Go home and keep the doors locked." Donnie instructed her before hanging up and informing his brothers, "Xever and Bradford took Hikari and Murakami-san, they want to meet us on top of the Fortune Cookie Factory."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's bust in and save them." Raph walked to the exit before being stopped by Leo.

"Not so fast. Think, Raphael."

Donnie remarked, "Two words that don't usually go together."

Leo was really not in the mood to deal with his brothers right now, "This is obviously a trap."

"What choice do we have?" Raph asked.

Leo pondered and concluded, "Maybe we do need to think more like Xever."

"Really?"

"Xever crossed the line when he dragged Murakami into this. Who knows what he'd do to Hikari? He's gotta learn that we can cross the line too." He smirked cunningly, "No more Mr. Nice Turtle."

"Good, I never liked Mr. Nice Turtle anyways." Raph agreed. With these new rules, the turtle came up with a foolproof plan that was sure to get their friends back.

* * *

"You're a real scumbag bringing innocents into this." Hikari shouted as Xever paced on the rooftop, waiting for the others to arrive.

"When you want to win, anything can be a tool." He shrugged, "It's not my fault you have so many weaknesses."

She struggled against her binds, it was maddening how they did it. It was loose enough for her to twist her wrist so much that she was getting rope burns but it was tight enough that nothing she did helped her at all. With all eyes on her, there was no way she could escape without putting Murakami in danger. "Untie me and I'll show you some of yours." She growled, sending all of her anger towards him in one scowl.

Xever only laughed in her face and kicked her over. He got close to her face and said, "I never noticed the first time we met. You've got the eyes of a killer, sweetheart. Maybe there's some use in you after all."

"If you think I'll work for you or Shredder, you're out of your mind."

"Well, I can't say I didn't try." He stood back up and ordered his Foot soldiers, "Tie them to the roof."

They picked her up and placed her back-to-back with Murakami before tying them both up with the other end tied to a beam jutting over the building. As they pushed them closer to the edge of the building, she caught on what they planned on doing and fought back by pushing back. It didn't work as they were both pushed off the building, saved only by the rope holding them to the beam.

The sudden fall was bad enough but hearing and feeling Murakami's distressed breathing churned her stomach in all the wrong ways. "You're sick, you know that?" She yelled angrily at a laughing Xever.

"Such compliments, please continue."

Knowing there was nothing she could do about him, she turned her attention to calming and reassuring Murakami, "Don't worry, Murakami-san. My team will be here soon."

"That's what I'm counting on, sweetheart." Xever suddenly turned around with a pleased look. A moment later, she realized why.

"We're here, Xever." Leo said, "Now let them go."

Xever looked back down at them before pulling out his butterfly knife, "Sorry, there's been a change in plan."

"Actually, there's been another change of plan" Hikari heard some noises and some muffled yelling, "You let our friends go, and we let yours go."

"Haha, he's not my friend." Xever chuckled as he sliced into the rope ever so slightly, letting the two's weight bring them down.

"O-Ok, stop! Or we'll toss him." Leo ordered with an unsure voice. Hikari gasped slightly, never would she think that Leo would think of something like this. But right now, it might be the only way they'll make it out of this.

"Go ahead, it'll save me the trouble." Xever said, unnerved by whatever was happening up there..

"Uhh, Raph?" Her heart sank when she heard Leo's shaky tone.

"Ha, that's what I thought." Xever scoffed and that was when she knew they didn't do it.

Hikari's eyes widened in surprise. Raph couldn't do it. Even when his friends' lives were on the line, he wouldn't hurt someone to make a point. Raph was stronger than her, she knew that… But if even the most rash and impulsive member of the team could hold on to his moral compass, what did that make her?

Now that the team had lost their leverage, she knew it was only a matter of time before Xever and the Foot beat them. She came up with an idea but she knew she had to be extra careful since she was tied back-to-back with Murakami-san, "Murakami-san, I'm going to get us out of here but you have to trust that I'll keep you safe."

With the rope slowly snapping, she only had one chance to do it right. She started swinging herself and Murakami-san close enough to the wall to kick-off and made a quick move. The force as they swung back at the building snapped the rope and she aimed for a window to break into. It worked and the two of them landed on a floor of broken glass.

She knew there was a chance the others might have heard it, but she was hoping she had enough time to free themselves and hide Murakami-san. She pulled out a kunai she hid in her outfit and started cutting the rope keeping her hands bounded behind her back. Once her hands are loose, she made quick work cutting the rope tying them together. After they were free, she found a place behind the stairway. She handed her kunai to Murakami-san, "I need to go help them. Stay hidden and take this, I really hope you don't need to use it."

She went up to the Purple Dragon's main area and found her equipment there, she geared up and snuck her way onto the rooftop. She saw the turtles on the ground and surrounded by Xever and Bradford, both of them bickering with each other. The leader of the purple dragons seemed conflicted, but he stayed in place. She knew it was impossible to beat them all so she needed to play it smart. She spotted one of Leo's katana and smiled. She crept into position and picked up the katana. "Xever!" She yelled, throwing the katana at his direction.

Xever dodged it and smirked when he saw her by the stairway, "Well, the little girl got herself out of the web. Tell me, what happened to the old man? Did he break your fall?"

"You're gonna pay for everything you've done tonight." She pulled out and activated her uni-weapon into a katana, handling it like Leo would.

"You think you can win against us all, girl?" Xever mocked as he and Bradford stood proudly in front of her.

"No. I just need to make sure you lose." Hikari smirked before giving her cue, "Leo!"

It turned out that the katana stuck itself into the wall right by Leo. With the way she threw it, it was never going to hit Xever. But it was definitely enough to draw all the enemy eyes on her.

Hikari changed her katana into her whip, using it as a grappling rope to pull her to the billboard while Leo used his katana to slice the water tank next to them, flooding the rooftop and washing Xever, Bradford and the Foot off the building. The turtles let out a sigh of relief now that the fight was over. She jumped down and Mikey was the first to rush over as the others followed.

"Glad to see you're alright." Raph commented.

She led them all to where she hid Murakami-san and told him that the enemies were gone, "We're heading back to the shop." She informed him as she guided him back up the stairway, "This way."

With Raph carrying Murakami-san, the team took to the roofs and made it back to the shop before daybreak. They guided him to a chair to sit while Donnie gave him and Hikari first aid for the cuts. "Thank you, Hikari-san. And to you too, turtle-san."

"You knew?" Donnie blurted out.

Murakami said with a cheeky tone, "I have other senses."

"And you don't think we're weird and scary?" Leo asked nervously.

"You saved my life, who am I to complain?" Hearing this, Mikey gave Murakami a hug, which surprised him but he reciprocated all the same

"Also, Hikari-san. I made these for you to bring home." Murakami brought out a take-out bag from behind the counter, "Whatever happened tonight will not last forever."

"Thank you, Murakami-san." She took the bag and said sincerely.

"Sweet! Pizza gyozas!" Mikey snatched the take-out bag from her hands, making her roll her eyes fondly at his antics.

Hikari walked out of the shop with the turtles and climbed the rooftops before pausing, she had gotten so used to just following them that she forgot that she might not be welcomed anymore. Leo seemed just as conflicted about what to do, standing there and watching to see what she would do now.

Donnie and Mikey looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Raph wasn't having any of it, "Are we gonna talk about this or are we gonna just stand here in the cold? We all know, Hikari."

"And?" She asked, not even looking at them.

"And? That's all ya have to say? No defense? No arguing?"

"I know what I am, Leo made it clear to me."

"I couldn't give two shells about what Leo thinks about this. Don't." Raph put his hand out when Leo opened his mouth, he stepped back and let Raph continue, "You didn't hear what the rest of us had to say. I don't care about what you did."

"What?"

"You crossed the line. So what? You're not bad and you're only hurting bad guys." Raph looked her in the eye and emphasize the next words, "I. Don't. Care."

Hikari took her eyes off Raph and turned to Donnie and Mikey, "What do you two think?"

Donnie sighed and said with a sad smile, "I can't say I'm ok with it. But I understand why you did it. That's all I can really say right now."

Hikari mirrored that smile back at Donnie before she was engulfed into a hug by Mikey. Stunned, she wasn't able to say anything as her arms hovered on her sides, unsure what to do.

Mikey just hugged her closer, "You must've been hurting a lot. Sorry, we didn't notice."

"No…" She murmured as she wrapped her arms around Mikey, "None of this is your fault. It's all mine… It's all mine. Why are you so ok with this?"

"People don't hurt people like that unless they're hurting themselves." Mikey answered.

Those words were enough to shake her heart, but she took a deep breath and smiled. She wasn't going to cry in front of them. As the two finished their hug, she looked to the last turtle who hadn't said a word about this. The one's whose opinion would matter the most to her. "Leo?"

Leo was a victim of his own storm, relentless and never letting himself get any footing. The hopeful look in her eyes made him yearn for her like it always did, but he couldn't do it. "I'll see you guys back in the lair." He said before leading off on his own.

Hikari watched hopelessly as what felt like her last chance to fix their relationship slipped away and disappear over the New York skylight.

* * *

Hikari asked to stay behind the next day while the turtles went on patrol, Leo said nothing as he left the lair with an uncomfortable silence. The others gave her sympathetic glances before following him. Now that she was official alone with Splinter, she had to talk to him.

She approached the dojo and peeked inside, "Sensei? I want to talk to you."

Splinter was sitting at his table with a pot of hot tea. He invited her in and asked while pouring her a cup, "What is it?"

"I want to know how you did it." She clutched the tea, letting the warmth from the cup calm her nerves, "How you let go of your pain and anger towards the Shredder."

"The pain never left. I still miss my daughter and wife very much, but my anger towards him never manifested because I was too busy grieving over what I had lost. All I could think about were the missed opportunities, the what-ifs. It would've driven me mad if I hadn't picked up four baby turtles that day. I had a second chance in life and I was determined to make the most of it. You are still stuck in the past, unable to break the chains that weigh you down."

"How did you break them?"

"I still haven't, I just got used to carrying them." He took a sip before facing her, "After all this time, you haven't properly grieved yet. Have you?"

Staring into the steaming cup, she saw the reflection of a girl she had never seen before. A girl who has truly accepted the loss in her life. "Do you think they would've hated me for what I've become?"

"I have no doubts that your parents loved you and would have been proud of you."

"I still hate the Kraang. I really do."

"No one is asking you to stop or to forgive them. There is no forgiveness for a crime this heinous."

"Leo expects me to."

Splinter sighed at that, "Leonardo is a noble warrior, but he is naïve and blinded by his own views of the world. He does not understand your pain yet, give him and yourself time to heal from this."

"Hai, Sensei." Hikari said, "For what it's worth, I think your wife would be proud of you too."

"Thank you, my child."

The two then sat in silence, mourning the loss of their loved ones and the lives they left behind. Hikari took a sip at the warm tea, wondering if her mother would have enjoyed it and what advice she would give.


	10. The Gauntlet

Leo was sparring in the dojo with Raph again, but this time there was more fueling him than typical Raph-levels of rage. As the two traded blows, Raph couldn't help but burn into him for what happened yesterday, "You're really holding onto this? She's a kid in a war!"

"We all are. But we don't act the way she is." Leo grunts as he kicked Raph in the gut and pushed him away.

"I was hoping time would help you understand, but you are still ignorant, Leonardo." The two stopped fighting as Splinter walked in, "You choose to run from the battle instead of facing it."

"I feel like I don't know her anymore. She's killing for her own sake."

"Is that all you see her as now?" Splinter asked, "A ruthless killer?"

"It's not just about the killing part!" Leo finally blew up, "All I could think now was how she was hiding it from us. How many people could she have hurt if she thought we wouldn't notice?"

"Are we even talking about the same person?" Raph retorted, "She couldn't figure out how to use a skateboard because it wouldn't fly."

"And how much of it was an act?" Leo's voice cracked with emotions, "How can we know she's not lying to us?"

It broke him to admit that, the fact he didn't know her as well as he thought he did. After falling for her, he discovered the girl he admired for so long might've been a mirage all along. It ripped his heart to shreds to even think about it, not one thought in his mind could agree with another when it came to her. He still had strong feelings for her, but how could you learn to love someone who kept something so big away from you? How real was the Hikari he thought he knew?

Hearing this, Raph's expression shifted from anger to shock to cold frustration. He only had one question for his leader, "Do you still trust her?"

Leo thought about it, back to the moment he had his outburst to her and the moment where she saved their lives. After everything that had happened in the last 24 hours, the aching pain in his heart told him one truth. "I…do."

"Well, start acting like it before ya hurt her even more." Raph bumped into his shoulder as he left the dojo.

Leo watched him left before slumping in defeat, "I'm trying my best here. Why can't they see that?"

"A leader leads his team in more ways than one." Splinter started, "You are conflicted in mind and heart, it has clouded your judgment. That in turn, affects your team."

"What should I do?" He looked up to Master Splinter.

"This is something you must figure out on your own. You will never grow if you don't."

Leo took Splinter's words to heart and thought about this. Raph was right. Even if Leo acted like he didn't notice, he could see the change during training today. It affected all of them, Donnie was even more closed off than usual, Raph was ready to burn holes into Leo's shell, Mikey was trying extra hard to make everyone smile, and Hikari was courteous while being completely alien. She didn't smile like she would when Mikey spewed out new things they should try and she wasn't arguing with Raph over stupid things, like whether or not heels could make effective ninja weapons.

The girl in front of him was nothing like the warm strong burst of light that had been with them for the past few months.

They couldn't keep going like this, he needed to figure out his own problems with Hikari before they could fix the chipping rift between them. He sat down in the dojo, mediating with an objective and an excuse to not really see Hikari until he figured himself out.

* * *

Hikari was in the kitchen making breakfast with Mikey. Things certainly have changed after what happened yesterday. While Leo stayed away from her, the others did their best to make sure she wasn't alone anymore. After training, she got pulled into the kitchen by Mikey. She was given a knife and told to cut up vegetables for their omelets.

She knew what they were doing and she appreciated it. It was times like these where she truly felt like she belonged with them. Mikey was probably the best at this, giving her a sense of familial love that she thought she'd lost forever.

Mikey continued to coach her as she started to pan-fry the vegetables, "You're getting the hang of this. Leo couldn't even work the stove right."

Just like that, the moment was broken. Mikey immediately realized his mistake, "Uhh… Sorry."

Hikari sighed and turned off the stove. She hated that everyone was walking around on eggshells about this matter, including Leo and herself. But she couldn't find anything to say to him, not without feeling those old wounds bleed again. As every minute and empty silence passed by, she felt like she was tearing the team apart and she hated herself for doing that to a group of loving brothers.

So, she hid and deflected like she always did.

"It's fine, I have to say it's high praise coming from the master chef here." She jabbed him playfully.

"Yup, keep it up and I just might let you make some eggs on your own someday." He laughed as he turned the stove back on.

"Thanks, nii-chan." She winked as she went back to cooking.

Mikey kept laughing and winked back, "No problem, nee-chan."

Ever since Hikari and Mikey found out about those honorifics, they had been using them for each other as nicknames. Donnie had told Mikey that he shouldn't call Hikari 'nee-chan' since he was older than her, but that didn't stop him from changing her name on his T-Phone. It became a part of their dynamic just as much as Hikari petting Mikey's head.

After cooking the vegetables, she turned off the stove and Mikey headed over to the fridge, "Alright! Now we just need to make it all into omelets."

"I'm going to work on my reading exercise then."

"Is he still giving you Dr. Seuss books?"

"You wanted to use comics. Besides, the one he gave me this time is over 30 pages long so I think I'm getting better at this."

"I still think that comics are the best way, but Donnie's nerdy lessons work too."

"Whatever you say, Mikey." Hikari laughed as Mikey continued digging through the fridge. She left to the pit where she left her book. Just as she was about to take off her translator collar, Donnie came out of his lab with that excited I'm-a-genius look.

"Check it out! We're about to take our ninjutsu to a whole new level." He said gleefully. Raph who was on a beanbag reading comics with Spike, poked his head up and looked at Donnie with intrigue.

Hikari noticed the egg carton in Donnie's arms, "You took the eggs?"

"Yes, I needed them to make these." He picked up one of the eggs in the carton, "Ninja smoke bombs!"

He threw it on the ground and disappeared from his spot, reappearing by the training dummy.

"Awesome." Hikari was really impressed with the smoke bombs. Donnie's best talent was always his ability to create anything out of what people thought were trash. It took a special type of patience and ingenuity to do that. She did her best to listen to Donnie's warnings and explantions. But she wasn't gonna lie and say that she didn't want to use it for herself sometimes to get out of some really sticky situations.

"Hey, I found the eggs." Mikey said as he walked out of Donnie's lab with a bowl of eggs.

Mikey went to the kitchen before Donnie could stop him, "Mikey, wait!"

A burst of purple smoke came from the kitchen and Mikey walked over to the others with powder on his face, "I think that was a rotten egg."

Seeing the confused look on his face made Raph and Hikari laugh at him. Donnie on the other hand was annoyed and explained it to him, "Mikey, they're not eggs. They're smoke bombs."

The giant grin that appeared on Mikey's face stopped their laughter as they knew what was going to happen next, "Uh-oh."

Sure enough, Mikey started going crazy with them. He used them to disappear and reappear again and again. He somehow made it into the dojo and surprised Leo who was mediating inside. Mikey laughed at him before disappearing again.

"Hey!" Leo ran out of the dojo to see the rest of them standing around, "What happened?"

"Donnie made smoke bombs." Hikari explained.

Mikey reappeared again in a poof of purple smoke behind Donnie and gave him a big wet kiss on his cheek, "I love you, man."

"Ok, Mikey. I'm taking these for now." Hikari snatched the bowl of smoke bombs away from Mikey, making him pout.

Just then, April rushed into the lair and started shouting, "Guys! Guys! You won't believe what just happened to me."

"Calm down, April." Donnie came to her side, "Are you alright?"

"I am being hunted down by a giant pigeon."

There was a pause after April said that, following with Raph laughing at her statement. He read the room and quickly stopped, "I can't be the only one who finds that funny."

"It's not funny, Raph. There's a creature out there that's trying to hurt my April." April and the others looked at Donnie after he said that, leading him to try and awkwardly correct himself, "Our April…. April."

Hikari dropped her head with secondhand embarrassment. Donnie was sweet but his obvious crush on April was definitely not helping him win her over.

"Man, this sounds serious. I'll go get Splinter." Mikey said as he pulled a smoke bomb out of the bowl in his hand.

Hikari noticed and realized he had taken it from her somehow, "Wha-Hey!"

Mikey was gone with a poof, now with Splinter in his place, "Michelangelo said you wanted to see me."

She calmed down enough to tell the story, on how she felt someone following her and how she saw a giant creature with wings and razor-sharp talons. She ran for her life and hid in a bank, only for the creature to splat himself onto the glass window. After that, the giant pigeon left and she immediately ran to the lair.

Raph still laughed at the obscurity of it all. But he was the only one laughing, though Hikari could understand where he was coming from. "April, you always come in with the weirdest stories."

"Weird's kind of my default at this point." She answered, still spooked as she hugged her legs to her chest.

"Don't worry, April. We won't let anything happen to you." Donnie promised.

Leo said, "Donnie's right. We're gonna set a trap for this pigeon man and make sure that he never bothers you again."

"Well I know what we can use as bait." Donnie stated.

"Bread crumbs!" Mikey shouted and he was confused when everyone stared at him like he wasn't making sense again, "Pigeons eat bread crumbs."

"I mean April." Donnie clarified

"You're gonna let him eat April?" Mikey shielded April with his arms stretched out, "I thought you liked her."

"Yeah!" April said annoyed.

"Don't worry, we've got your back."

"Alright, Mighty Mutants." Leo said with his hero voice, "Let's do this."

Raph, as usual, had to rain on Leo's parade, "Mighty Mutants? Was Dancing Dorks already taken?"

Hikari laughed, but her smile dropped when she looked at Leo again. His apprehensive expression was now showing on her face and Leo just walked towards the exit. Hikari sighed as she folded herself in a little and the team all now had the same look, much to April's confusion.

As the team walked through the sewers, April leaned closer to Hikari and whispered, "What's going on between you and Leo?"

"It's a long story. We're not on the best terms right now."

"What happened?"

"Can we talk about this until _after_ we deal with the pigeon man?" Hikari ended the conversation as they all followed Leo to the surface.

* * *

They set their plan in motion, which was pretty straightforward. They all hid and waited while April was out in the open as bait, though her performance was very over-the-top. Hikari had to stop herself from laughing at her dramatics. She couldn't even cover it with her hand since that would be letting go of the air conditioning unit she was hiding behind. She was kinda glad she did more upper arm strength exercises now.

Donnie soon got annoyed and had some words to say about April's acting, "What are you doing?"

April placed her hands on her hips, "You wanted me to be bait, I'm bait."

"That's not how bait talks."

"How do you know how bait talks?"

"I know bait doesn't talk back." Donnie snapped back.

No one on the team expected Donnie to actually talk back to April like that and they were not shy on letting the two know that. They popped out of their hiding spots to tease them before disappearing again.

Donnie, ashamed of his family and his actions, coughed and went back to hiding, "Just act natural."

April started acting again, a little more casual but still as dramatic as ever. But it worked as a looming shadow appeared and it dived straight at April. Donnie shot him with an electric blast while she and the other turtles surrounded him and pinned him down.

"That went way smoother than it normally does." Hikari commented as the pigeon man was still struggling under the team's combined weight.

"Alright, start talking, Pigeon man." Leo ordered.

The pigeon man was not happy about everything that was happening right now, "I have a name."

"Yeah? Well we just don't care what it is." Raph dismissed.

"It's Pete." Pete cried with indignation.

Leo continued to interrogate him, "Why were you trying to hurt April, Pete?"

"I didn't wanna hurt her." Pete explained quickly, "I'm bringing her a message, from her father."

April gasped at the mention of her father, "Let him up!"

The team let Pete go. He stood up and dusted himself off as he told his story, "We were both guests of the Kraang. They poured some ooze onto me and turned me into _this_."

"That must've been horrible, being turned into a pigeon." April said sympathetically.

"Actually I started out as a pigeon." Pete said before digging out a phone from his pants pocket, "He wanted me to give you this."

April played the recording of her father. He sounded tired and scared, warning April to get out of the city as soon as she could. The Kraang seemed to be up to something again and it must be serious if he'd ask her to leave the city. The message ended with a sentimental message, which April responded to this image of her father. She held the phone to her heart as Donnie stood by her.

Leo started asking Pete for more information, "Do you have any idea he's talking about?"

"I'm just the messager." Pete answered.

"Can you tell us where the Kraang are holding him?"

Pete nodded, "I can. But it's gonna cost ya a lot of bread."

Leo paused and asked to be safe, "We're talking about actual bread, right?"

"Uh-huh. Sourdough."

"Done." Leo smiled before giving orders to his team, "We'll go help him. Hikari, you take April back to her place and get her out of the city."

Neither of the girls were happy about this but Hikari looked like she was going to blow up at him, "You're benching me?"

"When did she learn that one?" Donnie wondered under his breath.

Leo crossed his arms and said sternly, "Look, I'm not letting you fight the Kraang until you can get a handle on this."

"You're going to let _this_ jeopardize the mission?" Hikari got into her face, "You heard the way Mr O'Neil said it. This is big and you need all the help you can get, I'm not leaving so you can either let me help you or I'll do it my way anyways."

Leo looked her in the eye, but neither of them was going to back down. The worse part was that he knew she was right. He looked to April and asked, "You too, April?" April nodded and he just sighed, "Fine, here's the plan."

* * *

The team made it to the top of the Kraang base after getting the information out of Pete for the address of a bakery dumpster. Donnie was standing on Mikey as he opened up an air vent, "Piece of cake."

"Let's do this." April stepped forward before Leo stopped her.

"We need you to wait here, April."

April shrugged Leo's hand off her shoulder, "Are you crazy? My dad's in there!"

"Along with who knows how many Kraang. This mission requires stealth and mobility, leave it to the pros."

"Hikari's going with you!"

Hikari raised her hand and explained, "I passed their stealth test, they've got nothing on me."

"Well I can't just do nothing."

"You won't be doing nothing." Leo handed her some rope Raph was holding, "We need you to lower the rope when we give you the signal."

April just took the rope and accepted her fate, "Fine."

They snuck into the building and disengaged any Kraangdroids in the area. However, she noticed that the turtles were taking them out first before she could catch up to them. It left a sour taste as she followed behind them. They arrived in front of a large room with the doors revealing a large computer system inside. Leo took out the two Kraang by the door while Raph threw his sai at the other in the room. As they walked in, they heard a sound coming from behind. It was a Kraang who was still in its suit screeching. Out of instinct, she activated her energy blade and stabbed it. She only knew what she did when her head cleared and she deactivated the blade that was still in the body.

"Sorry." Hikari mumbled, avoiding eye contact as she walked into the room.

"Alright, Raph. You're with me. Donnie, Mikey and Hikari, see if you can hack this thing and figure out what the Kraang is planning."

"What? Why am I stuck with Mikey?"

"Well I don't want him, and I'm the leader."

"Wow. You all suck." Hikari glared at both Donnie and Leo, "Just go do your mission, Leo. We'll be fine."

The teams split without another word. While Donnie was working on the computer, Hikari distracted Mikey by working on their own little project. "Ok, let's try this again." Hikari said as she grabbed onto one end of Mikey's nunchucks.

"Ready." Mikey gave a thumbs up.

Hikari nodded and they both got into motion, which Hikari running on the ground as Mikey twirled her around. The momentum she gained was enough for her run on the screen walls and she then used the force to pull Mikey up, swinging him into a high attack. Hikari landed on the ground and cheered with a hushed tone, "Yes! That worked great."

"Hi-three!" Mikey said in the same tone as they celebrated.

Donnie was already getting frustrated with the complexity of the computer, the added noise from them didn't help at all. Donnie just blew up at them quietly, "Will you two keep it down?"

Hikari sighed and went to check on Donnie, "How's the hacking going?"

"It'd be going better if there weren't a bunch of loudmouths running on the screens."

"Ooh that one's pretty." Mikey muttered as he pushed a button on the keyboard.

"No!" Donnie gasped, collapsing onto the keyboard screen as he tried to stop Mikey. It somehow worked and Donnie had full access to the files. "Haha! I'm in."

"You're welcome." Mikey smugly looked at him.

Donnie found the files related to some project happening today and opened up the plans. Blueprints and schematics were shown on the screens surrounding them, and what they found out was enough to shake them. She kept reading with his eyes and mouth open while Donnie came to understand it all, "Oh no."

"We have to go." Hikari said, running out of the rooms and into the holding cell areas with Donnie and Mikey in front of her. She turned the corner with Mikey as Donnie rushed to Leo and Raph.

"Leo! Raph! They planted a mutagen bomb downtown. They're gonna use it to disperse ooze over half the city!" Donnie blurted out as soon as he saw his brothers. He then paused when he saw April's dad, "Oh, hi Mr. O'Neil. Your daughter's very nice."

"We have to defuse that bomb. If only I can get this stupid door open." Leo grunted, trying his best to figure it out.

"Have you tried this?" Mikey said as he pointed to a button on the wall.

"NO!" They all shouted, Hikari acted quickly and used her whip to pull Mikey away from the button. The whip wrapped around his wrist and he was jerked back and faced with his team.

"And that's why no one wants to be with you!" Raph yelled at him, making Mikey wince.

Unfortunately, their arguing alerted some Kraang and the droid started calling for reinforcements. Time was running out and they got their weapons ready.

"Got it!" Leo said as the cell door opened.

Mr. O'Neil limped out of the cell and noticed the girl April talked to when he was first captured, now standing with them. "It's you."

"Hikari." She introduced herself as Kraang started showing up, "We need to go now!"

They managed to outrun the Kraang and their gunfire, making it to their entry point. As the Kraang caught up, Raph kicked a barrel at them to buy more time. Leo, for some reason, decided that pigeon noises was the best idea for a signal during a loud shoot off.

"What are you doing?" Raph scolded him before taking action himself, "April, throw the rope!"

April threw down the rope but the shots were getting too close for comfort. None of them could climb without leaving themselves open. Mr. O'Neil looked at a gun that fell by his feet and made a choice. He picked it up and started shooting back at the Kraang.

"Go, I'll hold them off." He shouted over the gunfight.

Leo looked conflicted but reached for the rope. Donnie wasn't ready to leave, "We can't leave him here."

"Go defuse the bomb." Hikari said, "I'll meet you there."

Leo immediately stopped her by grabbing her shoulder, "No. this is too important."

"You really don't trust me?"

Leo froze as his mind recalled the moment he saw those eyes, the same hopeless gaze of a captive looking up to him with trust and desperation. He remembered the first thought he had when he saw those eyes and he regretted everything he did to her. She took a leap of faith that day, and now he needed to do the same.

"30 seconds, don't keep us waiting." Leo said as he let her go. The look of relief and the smile she gave him was proof that he made the right choice.

Hikari jumped in and sliced the arm off the Kraangdroid trying to grab onto April's dad, "Mr. O' Neil. We have to go!"

"What are you doing? The city needs you."

"April needs you too. Hang on!" Hikari secured her whip around Mr. O'Neil's waist before twirled the end of the rope onto her wrist, "Pull us up!"

The plan was working until a well-aimed spot hit her uni-weapon, causing it to break and the whip to disintegrate. Hikari could only watch as Mr. O'Neil fell back onto the ground, "No!"

"Save the city!" He yelled as the Kraang dragged him out of sight.

She averted her eyes and looked down at her hands as she crawled out of the hole. They failed to save her father, "I'm sorry, April."

April just broke down and cried in Donnie's embrace. Donnie was surprised and did his best to comfort her, "We'll get him back. I promise."

"We gotta go." Leo said, reminding them all that the mission is far from over. April went back to the lair while the team headed for the Wolf Hotel.

* * *

With no time to head back to the lair, she only had her Athenian guard to use. She had to play it smart this time or she'd be causing more problems than helping them. They kept to the shadows as always, taking out the Kraang before they could really do anything. She did her best to keep her blade higher than she wanted it to go.

Once the Kraang were dealt with, they went over to the bomb and opened the panel to disactivate it. To their horror, it was far more complex than they anticipated. Hikari went paler than usual and Donnie stuttered as he stared at the circuitry, "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" Leo's voice raised with panic, "You said you know how to do this."

"I didn't expect a design this complex."

"They're aliens from another dimension!" Leo snapped back, "What did you expect, a big ball with a lit fuse that says 'bomb'?"

Raph stepped in to stop his brothers before either could get another word in, "Jeez, I sure hope this argument goes on for another four minutes and fifteen seconds!"

With the squabbling stopped, Donnie shifted his focus to the bomb which was confusing and ominous with all the beeping and the threat looming over them. He did his best to keep his head straight and his hands from shaking, but the backseat driving from his team wasn't helping. Hikari even offered to help but he was too high-strung to even consider it, "I can't work under all this pressure!"

Leo's eyes widen as he spotted someone else on the rooftop, "I think that's gonna be a problem."

The others turned around to see Xever and Bradford with their weapons out. Hikari was just fed up with those two by now.

"You have got to be kidding me." She groaned as she activated her energy blade, "Don't you guys know when to give up?"

"I can ask you the same thing, sweetheart." Xever smirked as both parties attacked.

Without her main weapon, she relied more on her dodges and his own mistakes. Surprisingly enough, she was doing better when she didn't try so hard to attack him. Xever was getting frustrated with every step back she took, "Stop running and face me like last time."

He aimed a kick at her face but she bent back and dodged it as she sprang herself further back "Last time I won, so I don't think I'd brag about that if I were you."

Xever got angrier, throwing one of his knives at her. She dodged it in time but she ended up where Xever wanted as he jumped into the air with both of his feet positioned to slam her head into the concrete. Luckily Raph pushed her away in time while Xever landed with his steel toed shoes created a small crater on the rooftop. Raph said to her before turned to face Xever. "Go help Donnie."

Hikari ran over to Donnie who was still had sweat coming down his forehead like a monsoon storm, "Donnie, how's that bomb coming?"

"Still working on it."

"Let me help, walk me through this." She said as she looked at the parts.

Both of them were well-versed enough to figure it out together, all that was left was to find the wire to shut down the timer. "We're down to two wires, black or green." Donnie said aloud.

As the two were thinking, they heard Mikey yell out, "Go for the green one!"

Hikari and Donnie looked at each other then at the ticking timer, there wasn't much time left to debate. Donnie looked like he wanted to go for the black wire but he wasn't sure. Hikari was panicking and she took a chance by cutting the green one.

Both of them held their breathes until they realized that the timer was off and the bomb was now dormant. "It worked!" Donnie cheered, "Guys! Mikey was right!"

Now with the bomb threat gone, the two of them jumped back into combat. Donnie went to help Raph while Hikari ran over to Mikey's side. They both faced Bradford who had a look of anger and contempt towards them. Mikey and Hikari shared a look and smiled.

"Ready, sis?" Mikey asked.

Hikari grabbed one end of his nunchucks and nodded, "Let's do this."

Both Hikari and Mikey combined their techniques to create their own kind of fusion fighting. Mikey would use his nunchucks to keep Hikari moving while she held on and ran on the ground, using her weapon and her kicks as a force for damage. Hikari would watch Mikey's back and let go to cover him when he was attacking. Neither of them staying still and always attacking.

It worked great on Bradford. Despite his strength, he wasn't able to stop both of them or attack when one was watching over the other. Leo joined it with his katanas, sneaking in attacks while Bradford was focused on the other two. The three worked in perfect timing and they forced Bradford onto the platform on the bomb with Xever, each of them had members of the team trapping them in a deadlock.

"You are worthy adversaries, but the battle is ours." Leo said triumphantly as he pointed his katana at them, "Lay down your weapons."

"Never." Xever snarled.

"You don't have a choice, you've lost."

Bradford looked at his own blade before he glared at the team, "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me."

To the team's horror, Bradford sent his blade through the glass vat holding the mutagen in the bomb. It spilled out and washed himself and Xever off the bomb. "Holy nova" was the only thing she could say as she watched everything that happened. With Xever and Bradford out of the picture, the team finally relaxed.

"So to sum it up, we defeated the kraang and Shredder's top henchmen. All while defusing a bomb and saving the city." Leo summarized it all with pride, "I'd say that's a job well done."

The team celebrated their victory with a group hi-three and cheering after saving the city. "Hikari." She turned around, surprised to hear Leo calling her name. Leo fidgeted as he started, "I-"

"Your skills are impressive."

His words were cut off when a booming voice something in the distance. The team followed it to see the shadow of a tall man that reeked with a dominating aura. He leaped down from the top of the bomb and in front of the team, "But they will not save you."

"Who is that?" Hikari stood with her energy blade ready.

"Do you think that's the Shredder?" Donnie asked nervously.

Raph answered, "Well it's definitely _a_ Shredder."

"There is undoubtably a fascinating story in how my old nemesis came to teach ninjutsu to four mutant turtles and a little girl." Blades came out from Shredder's gauntlet as he continued, "Perhaps I'll let one of you live long enough to tell it."

"You're gonna have to catch us first." Leo said, "Mikey."

Mikey pulled a smoke bomb out and smashed it to the ground, only for it to be an actual egg. "Oops. That one's on me."

Shredder dashed forward with full force as Raph went to intercept him, both fighting with extreme speed and strength. But Shredder was stronger, he pulled Raph to the ground before kicking him straight into the 'O' of the Wolf Hotel sign. The team watched in horror while Raph was electrocuted by the sign before dropping down onto the platform beneath it.

Shredder went after Leo next, striking hard and fast while Leo deflected with his katanas. Shredder landed on a strong punch on his side, forcing Leo to the ground before kicking him across the rooftop.

"Leo!" Donnie and Hikari ran to Leo and checked him. Donnie went ahead and started attacking Shredder with his staff. But each hit did nothing and Shredder punched him to the ground as well.

Before Shredder could attack again, Mikey used his kusarigama to pull Shredder's arm in place. But Shredder countered by pulling his arm and Mikey towards him before kicking his stomach, sending Mikey flying off the roof as he threw ninja stars at Shredder.

Shredder blocked it easily enough and put his armored hand up to stop the energy blade coming at him. Hikari was enraged as she pulled off every move and flip she had learned. She ran to the ledge before using it to jump up and at him, kicking him in the face. But that didn't stop him, he grabbed her calf and slammed her onto the floor. Her head felt like it was going to break with the force of the impact.

As Shredder was looking down at the girl, Leo tried another attack from the back. He blocked it but that left an opening for Donnie to strike at him. His staff broke on Shredder's armor and he threw Donnie into Leo, preparing to strike down. Hikari dove in with her shield to stop the gauntlet while Raph dropped down onto Shredder for a rematch. Raph was thrown off soon enough and Shredder raised his arm to strike Raph down. But Mikey caught the arm with his kusarigama once again, this time using the sign to pull Shredder up and away from the team as he jumped down on the other side.

Shredder was getting aggravated with this lot of teenagers and freed himself by cleaving the chain and cutting down part of the sign, which dropped onto Mikey. The team rushed to pull him out as Shredder dropped onto on his feet and stared down at the team, neither willing to give up or lose. They all attacked but Shredder was far beyond their skills. Neither of the team was left unwounded and they were getting tired while Shredder was still in top form.

"Look out!" Hikari yelled but it was too late. Shredder grabbed Leo by the neck and pinned him to the fallen sign, using his gauntlet to trap him.

"Tell me where Splinter is." Shredder threatened him as the blade of his gauntlet got closer to Leo's face.

Hikari was not doing better than the rest, her head was bleeding and she had cuts all over her body. But all she could focus on was the sight of Shredder holding Leo's life in his hands. "No… Not again. I won't let you." She gritted as she forced herself onto her feet.

She rushed in to save Leo, using her energy blade to try and stab the Shredder in the back. But he was too quick for her. He dropped Leo by his feet before grabbing the arm coming at him, he pulled it upwards, leaving her open as he sliced the right side of her chest with his gauntlet. The sudden pain of the blades tearing into the right side of her body and panic of it all triggered a blastwave of energy, causing him to drop her by Leo's side and throw him against the disarmed bomb. He noticed the purple arm and Xever's voice pleading him to end his misery. He was stunned when he heard Xever's voice coming from a disgusting large fish with arms and a giant dog beast who he had to guess was Bradford.

While Shredder was distracted, Leo dashed over to pick her up before jumping off the side of the building. His mind frozen in the moment while his hands turned red. The battle, the Shredder, nothing mattered now more than getting his family to safety.

* * *

The turtles rushed Hikari back to the lair as fast as they could. Leo was holding her in his arms and he forced himself to run faster when he could feel her blood flowing down his plastron. He did his best not to jostle her too much as he jumped over the turnstile.

"Get her to the lab!" Donnie yelled as he pushed the door wide open. The four of them rushed in as Donnie got busy setting up his doctor's table. Hikari was put down of the sterilized surface and moved her hoodie they used to try and stop the bleeding. The wound looked even worse than he thought it did. Leo did his best not to match her erratic breathing, looking helplessly at the girl who risked her life for him.

Splinter rushed in after hearing all the noise and commotion, "What happened?"

He froze when he saw Leonardo turn around with blood on his face and hands, "Shredder… He-"

That was all Splinter needed to hear as his knees buckled, only standing because of his jade cane. "No…"

Donnie went into full doctor mode, examining her injuries and getting ready for treat the wounds. "Sensei, I need your help. Everyone else, out." He commanded with a cold determined tone.

Leo, Raph and Mikey waited outside while Splinter and Donnie did their best to save her life. Neither of them said a word but all of them dealt with the stress their own way. Raph has taken to nearly punching the training dummy off the hook. Mikey had his headphones on, listening to his playlist and trying to keep his mind off of everything that happened tonight. Leo was been pacing the floor so much the rough floor was getting smooth, he didn't even realize that he still had her blood on his face after it splattered onto him as his blades went through her.

The world felt like someone hit pause on everything, trapping all of them in the moment without any means of escape. Leo finally felt air reach his lungs again when he saw Donnie and Splinter come out of the lab.

"She lost a lot of blood and her right lung was cut through. That's the worst of it." Donnie said clinically before dropping onto the couch in relief, "She's still out, but I closed the wounds and her body's making quick work of it. She's gonna be fine."

Splinter noticed the tension melt away from Michelangelo and Raphael's bodies. Both of them followed Donatello into his lab but Leonardo was still silent and pensive. "Leonardo?"

"I get it now… Why did she what she did. When I saw Shredder's gauntlet go through her body, all I could think about was how badly I wanted to hurt him for that. I can't stop seeing it."

"You can speak to her when she wakes up. I am certain she will be willing to listen."

Leo stood outside of the lab, mustering up the courage to face up to his mistake. But the sight he saw when he looked in destroyed what he had left. Hikari looked lifeless on the table, no smiles, no bright silver eyes. She was just lying there with bandages covering the right side of her torso and a constant low glow.

His brothers surrounded her, giving and taking comfort in their own ways. Donnie was walking around and constantly checking on her vitals. Mikey has curled himself against her left side, resting his head on her chest as it rose with every breath and seemingly content to listen to her beating heart. On her right side was Raphael, watching her closely with a look of deep concern.

Suddenly, he couldn't bring himself to enter. He had no right to act like his brothers when he treated her so ruthlessly. He ruined everything when he chose to abandon her for the sake of his own ideals. So, he did the only honorable thing he could. He chose to let her go.


	11. Panic in The Sewers

Donnie was starting to get worried about Hikari, yet he was marveled by her recovery. He could only assume her alien side was helping her heal as she was healing at the same rate as they did instead of normal humans. The one thing he noticed while she was unconscious was that she started glowing on her own after Sensei used some healing mantras on her, with the light being brighter on those three scars. However, what worried him was that Hikari hadn't woken up yet. It had been three days and the rise and fall of her chest were the only movements while she was lying there. Donnie did his best to try and understand why she wasn't waking up. Maybe she went into shock or a coma?

Suddenly, he heard the heart monitor spike and beep as Hikari opened her eyes and took a deep loud breath. Her pupils were small and frantic, her breathing now fast and irregular, she was panicking and Donnie had to calm her down. "Hikari! Look at me, you're fine. Look at me and breath with me."

Leo must've been close by because he rushed into the lab, "Donnie? What happened?"

Hikari kept her eyes on Donnie and did her best to follow his instructions. It took a while but she managed to match his breathing and the heart monitor went back to normal. Now that she was out of her fight-or-flight state, she finally noticed Donnie and Leo there with worried looks. "Donnie? Leo? Where am I?" She asked.

"You're in the lair." Donnie answered with a calm professional voice, "What's the last thing you remember?"

She scrunched her face as she tried thinking back to the night, "We were disarming the bomb and then… Shredder!" Her eyes widened with fear as everything came back to her, "What happened to him? Did he hurt you?"

"We're fine. You got the worst of it." Leo explained with his eyes away from her.

She just lied back onto the bed relieved, "I'm glad then."

"I just need to make sure you're good." Donnie explained as he started removing her bandages to examine her, "By the way, your wounds were glowing. Is that normal?"

He let her use the sheet on the bed to cover her chest as he examined the wound, "Yes. Even with our physical forms are similar to humans but we are still beings of energy. My energy must've gotten kickstarted and refocused to heal my wounds after you stabilized me. Thank you, Donnie."

"No problem. I just need to get these stitches out and you're good to go." Donnie looked to Leo who was still standing there, "Leo, if you don't mind."

"Huh? Oh, right." Leo shuffled awkwardly towards the door, only for Mikey to pop his head into the lab.

"Hey Donnie, I got some pizza with-" Mikey stopped when he saw Hikari smiling and ran towards her, "Nee-chan!"

"Hey Mikey." She greeted him as he stopped by the bed.

"Raph! Sensei! Hikari's awake!" Mikey shouted towards the door.

Raph and Splinter came into the lab. Raph went over and gave her a fist bump, "Took ya long enough."

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Splinter walked to her and smiled, "I am glad that you are awake, my sons were very worried for you."

What they all didn't notice was Leo's desolated expression as his family greeted her so warmly. He wanted to do the same, to talk to her before everything happened. He just didn't know how to talk about it.

She didn't know what to say to that, so she changed the subject, "As wonderful as it is to see you all, is it alright if we do this after Donnie removes my stitches and gives me my clothes back?"

The others left the lab, leaving Hikari and Donnie to finish up. Once the stitches were removed and he redressed her wound, he turned around and gave her some privacy. None of her clothes that night could be salvaged so they asked April to pick out some clothes for her. As comfortable as they are with a humanoid alien living with them, none of them really wanted to go through her clothes.

Hikari put on the clothes from the bag Donnie gave her, the movements from putting on her shirt were still a little straining, "Alright, I'm decent."

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"A little sore. If that's all I'm getting out of this, I'm not complaining. Come on, I wanna hit the dojo." She stretched her body, wincing a little as the wound ached from the action.

"You just got up."

"And? I was out for three days. I think I got enough sleep for a while." She said, "You said I was fine and I trust you."

"Don't play the trust card." Donnie sighed, "Just don't fight Raph."

"Are you crazy? I'm not letting him kick me down while I'm like this."

* * *

Hikari entered the dojo and asked Donnie to spar with her since it was the only way she knew he'd relax about the whole thing. They agreed to take it easy and stick to just hand-to-hand combat. As the two started fighting, she got back into the rhythm of it.

She always knew that the turtles bounced back quickly after their fights, but she was surprised that she was able to do the same. However, she winced as she tried to do a backhand spring. The healing tissues were still tight and aching. Donnie stopped immediately, watching while she placed her hand where her wound was. It wasn't going to be easy coming back from this, but she wasn't planning on letting it hold her down. Not when someone was crazy enough to do this for vengeance.

"Hikari, how are you feeling?" Donnie asked as he helped her sit up against the wall.

"I'll be fine. It'll probably take a while longer to heal." She said disappointedly.

"Maybe you shouldn't be fighting so soon."

"Shredder is out there and he wants blood, he's not gonna care if I should be fighting."

"It's not that easy. As your doctor, I think you should rest. As your friend, I'm worried about you. First, we find out about your mental state. And now, this. We can't just keep ignoring this."

"Donnie, some things are just out of our control."

"But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try or make things worse."

"If you'd have to choose between fighting a battle with open wounds or sitting by as you watch everything die, there'd be no contest."

"But everything _isn't_ dying. Give yourself a chance to heal before you go back out there."

Hikari took some time to think about that. Every time she acted out or pushed herself, she ended up hurting herself or causing trouble for everyone else around her. Maybe Donnie had a point. "Alright. I'll stay back for a little, at least until this heals up." She gestured to her injury.

Donnie was relieved that he got through to her, "Just relax and you should be good to go in a couple of weeks."

As the two left the dojo, none of them noticed Splinter in his room with his ears drooping down after hearing their conversation. Knowing what he knew of his old friend, he knew that her injury was nothing and it was only the beginning.

* * *

Hikari looked at her scars in the mirror, running her fingers down the marks. She found herself doing this a lot, the odd sensation of it was proof that it had happened. She did her part and protected her family. She quickly put on her shirt, the fabric a little uncomfortable as it touched the healing flesh.

Suddenly, she heard a loud crash coming from the pit. She immediately grabbed her weapons and rushed outside, only to see Splinter holding Raph down onto the ground. "Yes, because you will stay down here until you are ready. No patrol, no games, no rest."

Splinter let Raph go as he noticed Hikari and glanced at the spot her wounds were, "Hikari, you will join them."

"But Sensei!" Donnie immediately protested.

"Would you rather Shredder finish the job?" Splinter glared at Donatello, daring himself to say anything else.

That immediately shut Donnie up, "No…"

That was how their lives turned out for the next 2 weeks, endless training sessions with only 2 hours of sleep every day. They all pushed themselves again and again. Donnie was getting worried about her injuries. All of them were, so they did their best not to strike her there. However, Splinter noticed and scolded them for going easy on an opponent. Now the brothers were to train with each other while Splinter was training Hikari himself. They were all worn out and tired, but Splinter didn't stop.

"More, sensei?" Mikey asked, he was tired of getting thrown to the ground and he was too tired to even think.

"Yes. More." Splinter ordered. Hikari took a chance and tried to punch him, but her exhaustion made her movements sloppy and Splinter quickly knocked her onto the ground.

Both sets of turtles did as their sensei asked but that didn't satisfy him, "There is no intention in your strikes. Hikari, you left yourself open again. Do it again, we will do it all night if we have to."

"We have been training all night." Donnie complained.

Mikey punctuated that point by falling asleep right on the mat. Splinter was not amused, "Wake him up."

"Gladly." Raph grinned as he cracked his knuckles. He picked Mikey up and threw him onto the ground, making Mikey shriek as he woke up. "Ah! Shredder's here!"

Leo calmed him down and comforted him, "You were just having a nightmare."

"Aren't we all?" Raph remarked.

"Sensei, can we rest for a sec?" Donnie asked as he helped Hikari to her feet.

"Rest?" Splinter questioned, "Hmm, the Shredder will not rest. Until you are all dead."

"Sensei, we've been training non-stop for weeks with hardly any sleep. Hikari's still healing and they all need a break." Leo pleaded.

Raph was not pleased with how he phrased it, "Like you don't?"

"That's right, Raph. I don't."

"Not again." Hikari groaned.

"Well, then I'll give you a break." Raph growled and both he and Leo were staring each other down.

Splinter attacked them while they were all still distracted, knocking them all to the mat again with no mercy. "If I were the Shredder, none of you would even be breathing right now. Understood?"

Before any of them could give any answer, Mikey fell asleep and dropped onto Hikari, bumping her onto Leo. "Gah! Mikey…." She said exasperated, but she didn't push the turtle sleeping on her back.

"Perhaps a brief rest is in order. We will resume later." Just as Splinter said that, the rest of them fell asleep too. Hikari fell asleep on Leo's plastron, visions of blades or bursts of energies didn't disturb her for the first time in months.

* * *

After waking up from the nap, Hikari woke up to see her head was still on Leo's plastron and he was still asleep. The others had woken up and left at some point, leaving the two of them alone. She looked at him and frowned, this was the closest she had gotten to him since her accidental admission. Even with everything that happened, he was still a good leader and a good person.

She moved back when she heard him stirring. Not wanting to push her luck, she left the dojo where Donnie asked her to come in for their usual post-training check up.

"Geez, I take back everything I said about training." Hikari said as she popped a couple of pills from the bottle he gave her.

Donnie finished his examination and took some notes, "Well the good thing is that you haven't reopened your wound or anything, how're you feeling?"

"Oh, those painkillers you gave me are working wonders right now." She hummed, relaxing as the aches and pains melt away from her body.

Donnie was a little surprised and took the bottle away from her, "Maybe we should stop the painkillers for now."

"Ok." She said. She looked out and saw Leo coming out of the dojo, now awake and refreshed. He was practicing with his swords while Space Heroes was playing on TV. He stopped mid-motion and sat down to watch it instead. She smiled at the sight. Even when he's focused on training, he can't stay away from that show.

Donnie noticed her staring at Leo and decided to say something, "Leo isn't that happy either. He was miserable, sitting by the bedside when he thought we were all asleep. Maybe you should talk to him."

"Yeah." Hikari said after thinking for a moment. She took a deep breath and walked up next to him, sitting down by him while giving him a respectable amount of space between them, "Hey, Leo."

Raph was sitting there with Spike, trying to get some peace and quiet. But after seeing Hikari come out, he was intrigued about how those two lovebirds were gonna sort themselves out. He did his best to give them the illusion of privacy by putting his comic up and focusing on it.

"Hey. What did Donnie say?" He said, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"I haven't reopened my wounds with all the extra training. Soon I won't even be out of breath." She paused, "Can we talk about everything that happened before? I'm sorry I disappointed you."

That got Leo to look at her with his eye ridge raised, "You're apologizing for how I acted? I was the one who was a jerk. I knew you weren't ok, but I still did it."

"It did hurt, but you're here now and I'm trying. Donnie's gonna help me get better." She said with confidence. Leo had nothing more to add so they sat again in an uncomfortable silence.

"I remember this episode, this is one of your favorites." She laughed before following along with her best Crankshaw impression, " _Captain! The Panicons are heading straight for us, what are we gonna do?"_

Leo smiled and continued with his own Captain Ryan one, " _We do what we always do, we fight! No matter what the odds!"_

" _Aye, Captain!_ " The crew on the TV finished the scene, leaving the two of them chuckling as they looked at each other properly for the first time since their fight.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

With that, Hikari finally felt like they were ready to just let go of it and forget it ever happened. He had accepted it and not let it taint his views on her. She got a boost of confidence from this, maybe it was time to tell him now after everything they've been through.

"Leo, I-" Hikari's words were cut off when a water balloon hit her in the face, "Mikey!"

"Ah yeah! Doctor Prankenstein strikes again!" Mikey proudly declared with water balloons in his hands.

With her chance ruined again, she took off the hair tie that was holding her wet braid together and marched towards him. "You know, I could use some sparring practice right now."

Her disheveled wet mop of hair and the dark fire in her silver eyes reminded Mikey a little too much of Raph right now, "Nee-chan… Donnie said you should be relaxing more." Hikari chased after him with Mikey screaming all the way, "Ahhhh!"

Leo just sat there and let it go. Mikey was always getting on someone's nerves and Hikari was just the unlucky target today. He continued watching the episode as the Panicons shot Captain Ryan with an anxiety ray. Seeing his hero break down like that always worried him because if his greatest hero could fall apart, why couldn't he end up the same? But Captain Ryan always pushed through. Just as he was about to take out the Panicons with a bomb, the TV was turned off from a ninja star lodged in the power button.

"What?" He turned to Raph, the only possible culprit, "Hey! What are you doing?"

Raph had dropped the act after Mikey interrupted the moment and shrugged unapologetically, "Oh sorry, it was Spike's idea. You see, he said Space Heroes is too stupid for him."

"That's saying something, considering how he hangs out with you all day."

Spike, who was on Raph's shoulder, climbed off and went to eat his leaf. Raph decided to take it personally, "Now you made him angry."

Leo was not in the mood to deal with his hot-headed brother today. He kept his distance and pushed him back, "Raph you need to cool off."

"I'm on it!" Mikey exclaimed as another water balloon hit Raph in the face.

"Mikey!" Raph screamed.

"Oh yeah! Driveby shot!" Mikey cheered while dodging another of Hikari's attempts to catch him.

"Alright, Spike. You're gonna enjoy this show." Raph fumed before chasing after Mikey with Hikari, "Come here, you!"

Soon, they got him back into a corner and he had nowhere to go. He started sweating when he saw two sets of angry eyes burning into him, "Hmm, this doesn't seem very fair."

"No, it doesn't." They both said in unison before giving him his just desserts.

* * *

After they both dried themselves off and Hikari got a new set of clothes, the four of them got bored and decided to see what Donnie was up to. Donnie was hunched over with a blowtorch, working on his newest creation. He had taken the time to explain to each of them, all ending with varying levels of understanding. She had been his lead assistant for this, but that didn't stop her from seeing it as what the others did.

"You're still working on that go-kart?" Leo asked.

Donnie turned off his blowtorch and lifted his welding mask, "It's not a go-kart, it's an all-terrain patrol buggy with detachable sidecars."

Donnie even pulled out the blueprints like the first eight times that he had to explain how the patrol buggy was _not_ a go-kart.

"I don't know, still seems like Mario Kart carts to me." Hikari smirked.

Mikey was just focused on the fact that Donnie was still working, "Dude, hasn't been Splinter riding us hard enough? You gotta find a way to relax."

Hikari shook her head and smiled, "Have you met Donnie?"

"We all deal with stress in different ways, Mikey." Leo explained.

"This is how I deal with mine." Donnie finished.

"And this is how I deal." Mikey shouted as he threw a water balloon at Donnie, the splash still hitting Hikari, who was standing right next to him. Donnie didn't react any better than Hikari or Raph as Mikey was chased once again, "You're next, Leo. Doctor Prankenstein makes house calls!"

"Ugh, seriously…" Hikari undid her hair again with annoyance.

Leo picked up a clean towel Donnie kept around for safety purposes and gave it to her, "Here."

"Thanks." She accepted and started drying her hair with it, "I'm never gonna braid my hair again."

* * *

The team went back to the dojo after their moment of relaxation. For as intense as their Sensei was about this, they all knew he was right. The Shredder was far more powerful a foe than they could even imagine. All they could do was prepare themselves until they could face him. Leo understood this well and he did his part to help train his team through some katas.

"Hoko Noko Mai!" Leo chanted, performing the act as the others followed, all except for Raph. He glared and raised his voice, "Raph, Hoko Noko Mai!"

"Hoko No Way." Raph crossed his arms, "It's bad enough with Splinter driving us to the ground, now you too?"

"We have to keep training because right now, we don't stand a chance against Shredder. Just look at what he did to Hikari."

Mikey started speaking eerily, "Yeah and he's up there, somewhere… Waiting for us." He then shouted in fear and froze, "I freaked myself out."

"I hate to say it but the fact we're lying low might be the only reason we're still alive." Donnie said.

"Exactly. So until we're ready, we stay down here." Leo commanded.

"Unfortunately, that's not an option." April said as she walked in with her phone in hand. She soon gathered everyone to the pit and played the audio recording she got on the Purple Dragons. Shredder had some plan to get to them by doing something to the sewers and the lair. However, the recording stopped without any information on what Shredder planned to do. Only that there will be a meeting discussing the matter.

Splinter could only sigh, one thought lingered in his mind as he listened to that recording, "Our home is no longer safe. The Shredder must be stopped."

"How can we stop a plan we don't even know?" Leo asked. Hikari saw Mikey lining a water balloon attack on him, but Leo quickly halted it with a well-aimed throw. The balloon popped as the knife pierced through it, Mikey whimpered in disappointment at the lost opportunity.

"We have to go topside and fight out what they're planning." Raph stated.

"Raph's right. There's no other way." He then turned to Hikari, "Hikari, I want you to stay back."

"No."

He readied himself to argue with her again. He didn't want her out there against the Foot when she wasn't ready yet, "You need to rest."

"And you need your team. I can rest when our home isn't at stake." Hikari bit back, neither of them willing to back down once again.

"I'm not letting you up there, what do you think will happen if Shredder catches you again?"

"He'll destroy us anyway if we don't find out what he's up to."

"And _we_ will. Stay here and rest, that's an order."

She knew she'd lost when he said those last three words, but it was the subtle shadows she saw in his eyes that made her back off. "Fine." She collapsed onto the couch with her arms cross, making sure they knew how unpleased she was about this.

* * *

Hikari went to her room after the turtles left for their mission. She flopped onto her bed grumpily with her pillow on her face, " _Stay here and rest_. As if I could just sleep knowing that Shredder's just planning on killing us all."

"We just need to trust that they know what they're doing." April sat down on the beanbag chair in the room, one of the few pieces of furniture in her barren room.

"I trust the guys with my life. I just wish they could trust me to watch out for them too."

"That's not true, I trust you. And the guys trust you enough to let you fight alongside them. They just want you to get better. What happened that night really shook them up, especially Leo. I think that's what scared them."

"Nothing will change if we can't beat the Shredder. How can we even beat someone like that?"

"As skilled as he is, Shredder's still human. Any human can be beaten."

Hikari yawned, the constant training and boredom of not doing anything were enough for her body to betray her, "Wake me up when they get back."

"Of course." April nodded before looking for Splinter in the dojo, "Master Splinter, I need to talk to you."

"What is it, April?"

"It's about the guys. I get why you're training them so hard, I really do. But you're making it sound like Shredder is unbeatable."

"Shredder is a dangerous man, April. He has taken my family away from me before. I won't let him do that again."

"And how is training them into the ground or freaking them out going to help?" April used the courage she had built to speak her mind, "I've seen them in action, and they can pull this off. But they need someone to believe in them, not scare them."

Before Splinter could respond to that, the turtles returned to their home in slugged steps. They were all bruised but what stuck out to both April and Splinter were the defeated looks in their eyes.

Donnie noticed them first, "April?"

"Donnie! What happened to you guys?" April called out as she rushed to them.

"Bradford. He mutated into some powerful dog monster." Donnie answered as they all made their way to the couch.

They raised their heads when they noticed footsteps and Hikari walking out of her room. She rubbed her eyes, still a little dazed from the nap she was woken up from.

"April? I thought I heard-" The drowsiness in Hikari's voice disappeared when she got a good look at the turtles, "Leo?! What in galaxy's name happened?"

Leo gave his recount of their mission and how they were utterly outmatched by Bradford's new mutated form. Both April and Hikari could see the hope slipping away from them.

As Splinter stood in front of his oldest son, Leo could only drop in his head in shame, "We couldn't take him."

Mikey sighed, "Dogpound was just too strong."

"Dogpound?" Hikari asked.

"Yeah, because he turned into a dog and pounded us into the ground."

"We get it, Mikey." Raph groaned, but he didn't look any better or have his usual brand of rage and passion.

"I don't see how we're gonna get close to that meeting now." Leo said.

"Maybe we just need to find a new place to hide, I hear the sewers in Florida are nice this time of year." Donnie suggested as he showed a website he was looking at.

"So that's it? The Leo I know wouldn't just quit." Hikari stood up and looked at them all, "The _team_ I know wouldn't just let Shredder win."

"Hikari's right, I'm not gonna let you guys give up." April said with conviction, "I'll spy on the meeting."

Everyone immediately objected to this, but April continued, "I can do this. You've been training me to be a kunoichi."

"For a few weeks!" Splinter reminded her sternly.

"What choice do we have? Shredder's gonna attack your home and we need to find out how. I'm the only one who could do it." April reasoned. She knew she had won the argument when no one could only look away in silence.

"I'm coming too." Hikari said.

"No way, Shredder and Bradford would recognize you." Leo shot up immediately, "You'll get caught the minute they see you."

"Fine, then I'm going to the surface with you guys."

"I already told you no, you are still healing."

"And you all ended up hurt. I know you made me stay because you're scared it'll happen to me again. What difference does it make to me if you're the one hurting instead?" Hikari looked into Leo's eyes pleading, "Don't make me wait for you."

Leo couldn't deny her, not when he saw the fear in her eyes. Especially since it was the same one that got her to back down the first time around. The team and April prepared for their last chance to find out Shredder's plan before they could lose their home for good.

* * *

The team took to the rooftops once again. Although Hikari was enjoying the freedom of being let out of the lair for the first time in weeks, she could tell the turtles were extremely tense about this. They were barely jumping around unless it was to maneuver or did any flips. The tension was rubbing off on her but she did her best to keep her cool. As they all reached the meeting point, they kept an eye out as April approached Shredder's lair with her disguise on and a box of pizza in hand.

"I don't like this." Donnie couldn't keep the anxiousness out of his voice. Hikari didn't blame him, she'd be going crazy if Leo was the one down there right now.

"Me neither." Mikey shook his head in disgust, "Giving the enemy a free pizza. Never a good idea."

"This isn't gonna work." Raph commented.

Hikari defended, "Have some faith, that's how she got info from the Purple Dragons."

Unfortunately, Raph was right and the ninjas didn't take the bugged pizza with them. April retreated to the alleyway where she was out of sight, before pulling out her phone and calling Leo.

" _Looks like the Foot clan are smarter than the Purple Dragons_." April's voice came from Leo's T-Phone.

"They almost have to be, wouldn't they?" Leo sighed. Even if he didn't think it would've worked, he was still disappointed when it failed. "Thanks, April. You did your best."

"At least we still got the pizza." Mikey remarked. Hikari facepalmed. As much as she loved Mikey as her own brother, she really wished that Mikey would get his priorities straight.

" _Oh, I'm not done yet_." April said, throwing the team into a loop.

"Wait, what's she doing?" Donnie looked over and the others followed suit.

April threw the pizza away into a trash can and Mikey was not pleased with such a sacrilegious act to his beloved dish, "Not the pizza! She's gone rogue."

She approached the building right beside Shredder's lair and knocked on the door. After talking to the man who lived there and seemingly forcing herself in, April came back out onto the fire escape on the side of the building.

"She's so cool." Donnie fawned over April as he watched her.

Hikari couldn't help but chuckle, "I am amazed how she hasn't caught onto this."

"Speak for yourself." Donnie spat back.

Leo cut him off before Donnie revealed anything to her, "Focus, Donnie."

Hikari noticed April with her legs on the rail of the fire escape. She quickly figured out what April was trying to do and she couldn't believe it. "Is she-?" Hikari barely spoke before her fear came true. April leaped off the rail and made it to Shredder's building. Hikari's heart almost gave out when she saw April nearly falling off the ledge as she regained her balance, "Raph, can we take her with us on our parkour training?"

April crawled into a window on the roof and soon Shredder's voice was coming out of Leo's phone, " _Listen carefully, five of you will hijack a tanker truck on Houston in approximately 53 minutes. The chemical is extremely rare, so you will not have another chance.-_ "

"Chemical? What's he talking about?" Raph asked.

"I don't know, I can't hear him!"

"Guys, keep it down!"

" _-which will destroy them once and for all. Now, go._ " Shredder concluded.

Leo was very annoyed as he turned to his team, "We missed it. Great job, you guys."

"It's fine, we still have April." Hikari pointed out.

Donnie rushed back to the edge to go after her, "We have to get her out of there."

Leo stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder, "No. If we rush in, we put her at risk. We wait."

"I agree, she can take care of herself." Hikari said. However, she became nervous when April wasn't heading for the meeting point but watching Dogpound and the Purple Dragons getting into their van.

" _I'm gonna hitch a ride, see what I can find._ " April came through the phone in a hushed tone.

"No, you've done enough. Get out of there." Leo commanded before noticing Dogpound heading towards April, "Bradford heard you. April, run!"

Hikari wanted to help her, her body ready to jump down there before Raph pinned her down, "Are you crazy? We're not letting them take you too."

They couldn't do anything as they watched the Foot tied and gagged April. They then threw her into their van and took off. Hikari yelled in frustration as the van disappeared from their sights, "Urghhh!"

"April? April, are you there?!" Leo shouted in a frantic tone, but there was no answer.

"She's not gonna answer, Leo. What do we do?"

"We gotta get April out of that van! But Dogpound's in there! A-And we're not really to fight that guy!" Leo started spiraling fast, "Aw, Splinter was right. We should've stayed below!"

Hikari watched in shock as the confident leader she knew was falling apart at the seams. She wanted to say something, anything to comfort him. But seeing him like this had her lost and anxious too.

"Can't believe I'm gonna say this." Raph groaned before speaking in a deep dramatic voice, "Get it together, Captain! You're our leader so act like one."

Hearing a quote from Space Heroes was the last thing anyone expected, especially from Raph. That was enough to calm both of them down as Leo turned to his brother and finished the scene, "You're right, Raph. That was the anxiety ray talking."

Raph waited before crossing his arms and mocking him, "That's it? You're not gonna slap yourself?"

"Psh, let's save April." Leo said, back to his confident leader mode.

"And our home." Raph nodded.

"We'll never catch them on foot!" Donnie pointed out.

"We're not going on foot." Leo said, "Come on, team."

As Leo led them all back to the lair, Hikari ran alongside Raph and smirked at him, "Great job, Mr. Star-Trek-is-too-stupid. Maybe I'll get you a red uniform."

"Joke about it again and you're walking home next time." Raph growled and Hikari took the threat as she did with most of his threats.

* * *

The team had to make the most of what they knew, they knew Shredder didn't have whatever chemical they were planning to use for now, and they knew Dogpound's team were going to Houston in 50 minutes to get a tanker filled with it. Leo's plan was the same as all of their plans were, brilliant in concept but required a lot of luck and faith for everything to work out.

They drove the patrol buggy onto the streets, a five-person vehicle with four on each corner and one in the center. Leo was driving it as one unit as they chased after the tanker, "See? I told you it was fine, Donnie."

"And I told you it was a work in process." Donnie shouted over the sound of the buggy.

"Seems working to me- Woah!" Leo exclaimed when he somehow pulled his steering wheel out of its socket. He quickly reattached it and coughed, "Ok… Just don't pull on that and we'll be fine."

They soon spotted the Foot's van and the tanker Shredder mentioned with Dogpound now hanging off of it. As they got closer, Leo had his handle on the lever and said with a hint of mischief, "Raph, Hikari, get ready."

Both of them were confused until Leo pulled on the lever, detaching himself from them with Donnie still attached behind him. Hikari and Raph recovered from their sudden separation and started driving alongside Leo. Hikari was on her own while Mikey was still attached to Raph.

"Leo! You could've been a little more specific." Raph spat in annoyance.

"Where's the fun in that?" Leo laughed.

Hikari shook her head and laugh when she heard that, "Leo, that was awesome but I'm still gonna get you back for that."

They caught up to the tanker pretty quickly and Donnie's face paled when he read the labels on the tanker, "Chlorosulfonic acid? Leo, I think I figured out Shredder's plan. That chemical reacts violently with water."

Leo realized what Donnie was saying, "So if they dump that down into the sewers-"

"-Everything will be incinerated." Hikari finished, teeth gritted with rage.

The Foot soon noticed that the team was following them and acted accordingly. The van and the tanker both split off into different directions.

"Not if we have anything to say about it." Leo started giving orders, "Donnie, you and Raph stay with the van and save April. Mikey and Hikari, you're with me. We're stopping that tanker."

"Uhh, in case you didn't notice, I'm still attached to Raph." Mikey said in a 'duh' tone.

"I can fix that." Raph smiled evilly as he pulled on the lever, detaching Mikey from his kart as Mikey's panicked wailing trailed behind him. Raph just laughed like Leo did earlier, "That was fun."

"Told you." Leo chuckled.

The team split off to each do their mission. Leo, Hikari, and Mikey drove side by side with each other as they approached the tanker. "Let's slow this thing down, fire grappling hooks!" Leo commanded.

They did so and the hooks barely latched onto the back bumper of the tanker before the rope broke. "Donnie did say they weren't ready!" Mikey shouted.

"I know!" Leo responded as he tried thinking of another plan.

Dogpound jumped off the tanker and picked up a manhole cover, throwing it straight at them. "Look out!" Hikari shouted as the metal cover flew right into Leo's kart. Leo was faster and moved out of the driver seat before the cover hit the kart, propelling himself out of the kart and onto his feet as the kart rolled over destroyed.

Hikari tried doing some damage by driving her kart right at Dogpound, but he timed his attack and smashed onto the front of her kart. It stopped the kart in its tracks and forced her to eject herself out of it. She tumbled into a side roll after flying out of it. She got a good look at him and couldn't help herself, "Wow, you really are Shredder's lapdog now."

Dogpound took offense to that and snarled, "I see Master Shredder didn't end your miserable life, I'll make sure to finish the job."

He barreled at her while she pulled out her uni-weapon, changing it into a spear. She aimed for his shoulder and attacked, but Dogpound held the spear tip at bay with his clawed hands. She didn't want to risk actually slicing his arm off and didn't dare to put any more power into her weapon. He pushed her spear away and grabbed her up by her left wrist. She forced his hand open by activating her shield, dropping her as Leo and Mikey joined beside her. They all fought Dogpound but none of them could get a hit in with his hardened skin. Dogpound kept trying to slash at them, making Hikari change her spear into another shield as she did her best to block attacks coming at her and the turtles. He got the three of them backed up towards a scaffolding before Leo threw down a smoke bomb, allowing them to escape to a platform above him.

The three took the moment to catch their breath. Suddenly, they heard a noise coming from the tanker. It had stopped at the manhole Dogpound opened earlier and a Foot ninja was pulling out a long pipe.

"Don't let them dump the acid." Leo said.

Mikey immediately jumped down to stop the ninja, leaving Leo and Hikari to deal with Dogpound. Dogpound was ruthless, striking at them again and again. It forced the two to stay defensive as Leo blocked them with his katanas and Hikari kept reforming her shields as they kept disappearing after every hit they took. "He keeps breaking my shields!" She cried as she reformed them again.

He swung a heavy punch at them and Hikari held her shields up to block both herself and Leo from it, but it didn't stop the force as both of them were pushed off the scaffolding and hit the side of the tanker. Leo tried attacked again but Dogpound redirected his katana into the tanker instead, leaving him open for attack if Hikari didn't stop Dogpound with her shields. Leo pulled his katana out and Hikari away from Dogpound as the chemical starts spewing out of the hole the katana made.

Mikey had taken care of the Foot ninja and stood along with Leo and Hikari, Dogpound standing menacingly on the other side of the chemical spill.

"What'd Donnie say about this stuff again?" Leo racked his brain before coming up with an idea, "Mikey, throw the water balloon."

"What water balloon?" Mikey said in a voice overflowing with fake innocence.

"The one you were gonna hit me with."

"Dude, you are good." Mikey dropped the art and pulled out the water balloon at the chemical spill. Leo took action and pushed both Mikey and Hikari down and behind cover as the water balloon landed its mark and ignited the entire tanker, causing it to explode in a glorious boom.

They peeked out to see the tanker destroyed and on fire while Dogpound was nowhere to be seen. "Nice shot, Mik-" Leo's compliments were cut off when Mikey pelted a water balloon at Leo's face.

Hikari, who was right beside Leo, got hit with water as well, "Come on!"

"Doctor Prankenstein for the win!" Mikey cheered.

Leo finally computed the situation and just asked, "You had two? Where do you keep them?"

Before Mikey could answer, Donnie and Raph showed up in their karts. Raph took one look at the scene and smiled, "Looks like we missed the fireworks."

"Donnie, the go-karts worked great. Nice job."

"Thanks Leo, and it's a patrol buggy."

"Not when I'm done with it." Hikari grinned conspicuously.

Donnie, knowing what she had in mind, stepped in immediately, "Don't you dare!"

They laughed as they brought their wrecks back to the lair. Donnie was convinced he could fix them up again but he made it very clear that Hikari wasn't allowed near them without his permission. But she looked like she already had plans on what she wanted to do with them.

* * *

"Nothing says victory like the sweet taste of pizza." Mikey exclaimed as the team all grabbed a piece of pizza from the box he got.

As they all devoured their slice, Donnie got suspicious when the pizza slice got closer to his beak and he gave it a sniff, "This pizza smells kinda funky, where'd you get it?"

"It's the one April threw out." Mikey answered with pizza stuffed in his cheeks.

That statement halted the other four as they started gagged and spitting the pizza out. Hikari was running into the kitchen to get water for everyone to wash the taste out of their mouths. Mikey was the only one still eating, "What? We live in a sewer and now you're all clean freaks?" He shrugged, "More for me then."

They were all furious, ready to give Mikey a small taste of his own medicine if Master Splinter hadn't stepped into the pit, "My children, I owe you my gratitude and an apology."

"An apology?" Leo asked, utterly confused about what he meant.

"Fear clouded your minds. However, it was not the Shredder that fueled your fear. It was me. You overcame that fear and performed admirably. No training today." Splinter declared, much to everyone's delight, "Unless Michelangelo throws that balloon."

Leo, Raph, Donnie and Hikari all looked at Mikey, who had a water balloon out and ready. Mikey laughed nervously at his angry family before running from their attack, "Oh no you don't!"

After Mikey had been properly 'punished', they finally got to relax after all that happened in the past month. Raph was reading a comic book while sitting on Mikey's shell, a part of his punishment. Donnie was on his laptop, no doubt researching on the Kraang or April, neither would surprise Hikari at this point. She was walking from the kitchen with a giant bowl of popcorn in her hands. The first thing they all agreed to do was have a nice movie night, and it was Leo's turn this time so of course it was one of the Space Heroes movies.

She relaxed on the couch with the popcorn bowl in her lap, "Things are finally back to normal."

"Yup." Leo reached for the bowl and grabbed a handful of popcorn "I'm still sorry."

"I forgive you. In fact, there's something I've wanted to tell you since the day we went to Murakami's place." Hikari placed her hand on his left forearm, looking into his eyes, "I like you. I really _really_ like you. And I was hoping we could go out on a date?"

While Hikari was waiting with bated breath, Leo was more conflicted than he ever was. This was his dream come true and yet it felt wrong, it wasn't the same girl he fell for. Her eyes were the same and they had the same awestriking effect on him. But his brain couldn't believe that this was the same girl that lingered in his mind all this time, no matter how much his heart tried convincing otherwise.

"Hikari." Leo choked as he looked away from her hopeful eyes, his heart crushing itself as he blurted, "I can't."

"What?" Leo swore he wasn't looking but he could still see the spark dimming from those bright silvers.

"We can't be together."

"Why not?"

The room was painfully quiet and he knew that his brothers were waiting to hear what his pathetic excuses were. He could hide quite a bit from his little brothers but his feelings towards Hikari weren't one of them. "I just can't. With everything that happened, it doesn't feel right."

"So… that's it?" His arm felt colder than usual when her hand slid away from its place. Hikari placed the bowl onto her spot on the couch as she stood up and said in the most controlled tone he had ever heard from her, "I'm going to my room. Good night, Leonardo."

Leonardo… That was it, didn't it? No matter how upset she was at him, she never called him by his full name. He couldn't find the right words to say, how could he when he didn't even know what he wanted anymore. He still wanted her, a part of him still held her so very close to his heart. But was that _her_ still the same Hikari he came to know?

Her footsteps fleeted and disappeared behind a soft click from a door. Leo could feel his brothers' gazes bearing down at him, all with varying emotions. Mikey looked as destroyed as Hikari did, Donnie seemed both confused and disappointed, but the one that stuck out to him was Raph. He was angry, very angry. However, he didn't blow up like he normally did. He was purposefully holding it for some reason, he got up from Mikey's shell and walked over to the rooms.

A bunch of loud knocks later, Raph walked back to the main area with Hikari trailing behind him. Leo couldn't see her face, though he didn't really want to see the pain he caused her. Raph shot a dirty glare that held much more promise than normal, "We're heading up. I'll be watching her. Don't wait up."

The two of them disappeared out of the lair, leaving the remaining three turtles in a very dampened mood. Mikey didn't want to hang out anymore and Donnie just retreated to his lab. Leo was left all alone to tend to his aching heart as it squeezed tighter with every second, why was the world punishing him so brutally for wanting someone to love and to love him?


	12. It Came From the Depths

Although Hikari and Leo had technically mended their friendship, her confession added a strain that the patch wasn't prepared to hold. It made things really awkward in the lair. This time, Hikari was the one who made the effort not to go near Leo. She went so far as staying in April's place when she wasn't helping Murakami in his store. She was also a little snappier after she got past her moping stage, which was getting on all of their nerves. Raph already knew that relationships were messy, but the fact that it was Leo who turned her down just made it even more frustrating, especially since he knew his big brother was the one pined for her since the start. He felt even worse because he knew he played a part in her telling him. With those two on each ends of the fuse, Raph was just angry at both of them for putting the rest of them through this.

Donnie was working outside of the lab for a change, while Mikey was making some disgusting mess in the kitchen. Mikey's cooking was good when he actually stuck to making normal people stuff, not just weird pizza-mixed poison bombs. None of them were willing to be his guinea pig, except for Hikari. Sometimes, he wondered if Mikey killed off most of her tastes by this point.

Leo was watching Space Heroes again, which would normally put a big nerdy smile on his face. But Raph could tell he wasn't enjoying it as much as he normally did. So, he did what any little brother would do: antagonize him. "You must be the only person in the world who likes this show."

"No way, there are millions of Space Nix out there. Like those people I met last Halloween and Hika..ri." Leo's voice trailed off and the forced chipper tone slipped away when he said her name.

Raph just rolled his eyes at his pathetic older brother, took the controller and changed it, so what if he did it with a little more spite than usual.

The TV changed from Space Heroes to a show called Grody to the MAX, it was something Raph didn't mind because the stupid host had a really hilarious way of exaggerating everything. It was even funnier to see what humans think when they see the aftermaths of their nighty fights. But this time it hit a little close to home when she started reporting on an angry rampaging mutant in the sewers, to which his brothers all looked at him… Rude, it wasn't _always_ him.

Hikari came back as the news story was playing. No matter how upset she was, it wasn't going to stop her curiosity or her thrill for adventure. Even if she was trying to distance herself, Raph could tell she was listening very closely.

Apparently this all started when some idiot sewer worker wanted to show how 'safe' the sewers can be, and filmed himself getting attacked by some giant alligator. Raph was annoyed that some human not only could've exposed their existence with this, but also the fact that people are probably gonna come down here now that they have a story because humans are just too nosy for their own good.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Donnie muttered.

Leo said, "The last thing we want is some mutant causing trouble in the sewers."

"Or some news crew looking for him." Raph added.

"We've gotta track this guy down and stop him ourselves."

"Wait, let's rewind this. I think I saw a tunnel number." Donnie picked up the remote and started rewinding the recording until he saw the tunnel the gator came from, "There, tunnel 281."

"Great, let's go." Leo said, then turning to Hikari with an unsure look, "Are you coming too?"

"Of course, am I not a part of this team anymore?"

"I have no problems with you being on the team."

"Good. Nice to know you're _very_ honest with how you feel about me." Hikari said scathingly as she went to her room to drop off her stuff and get her weapons.

"You wanna egg her some more, chief?" Raph asked.

"Don't need your commentary right now." Leo groaned. Raph could tell he was having a mega headache right now. Having to work with the girl you turned down despite whatever feelings, that's a special kind of messed up.

* * *

The team soon made it to the tunnel, sneaking past the police tape sealing off the tunnel. To their credit, they still worked well as a unit even with all the drama going on. Soon Leo stopped them once he noticed some very strange footprints in the sewer muck, "Check this out, what the heck made these footprints?"

As if to answer his question, the team heard a loud thunderous roar and bright flashes of pinkish lights they were all too familiar with. They all snuck over to the end of the tunnel, keeping to the walls and the shadows. They saw the creature they were after, and he was far too busy battling a small army of Kraang firing blasters at him.

He was a beast of destruction as his jaws clamped shut and breaking the robotic bodies. His large body swatting and crushing Kraangdroids with every spin and slash. If any of them had to deal with a number like that on their own, they would surely be overnumbered and lose the fight. But this mutant held his own very well and he wasn't going to just give up.

With every trashed Kraangdroid that came from the battle, Donnie looked more uneasy, "Never thought I'd feel sorry for the Kraang."

"I don't." Hikari remarked, not bothering to hide her disdain for the Kraang.

When the Kraang started using some taser stick on the alligator, Leo immediately looked to Hikari and then to Raph, "Raph, keep her away from the entrance."

Sure enough, Hikari was frozen with horror and unable to take her eyes away from the pain they were putting the mutant through. If their past experience with Rockwell taught them anything, Hikari would go rogue if they didn't step in. Raph grabbed her shoulders, pulled her away and holding her in place. It didn't do well to calm her down since the pain-filled screeches still echoed through the silent tunnel.

Mikey couldn't bear to hear it anymore, "Come on, we've gotta help him."

"I think 'gotta' is a strong word." Raph said, still trying to keep Hikari stable and in place.

"Mikey, we don't know anything about that guy." Leo objected, "He could be way more dangerous than the Kraang."

"Wow. A little late to fix it, huh?" Hikari spat out.

Leo rolled his eyes and turned to her, "Stop taking everything so personally, this isn't about you."

"How am I supposed to take the fact that you want to abandon someone who the Kraang clearly want to torture?"

"I have to keep my family safe. You should understand that better than anyone."

"Fine, but I'm not waiting." Hikari said, before surprising Raph with an elbow jab to his gut. She ran into the battle after Raph let her go. This time, she didn't bother holding back as she stabbed her energy blade straight to the brain of the closest Kraangdroid. She transformed her uniweapon into a giant war scythe. She swirled it around as the blade sliced through the Kraangdroids with ease. She tried to make her way to the mutant, but the number of Kraang attacking her was stopping her from making any real process.

Suddenly a chain flew across her head and tied itself to the wrist of a Kraangdroid torturing the mutant. It was pulled away as Mikey flew towards the mutant with a loud "Booyakasha!". After that, the others joined in too. With them on the field, she changed her scythe into a whip again. The team made quick work on the Kraang and the last Kraangdroid there was destroyed.

Donnie asked, "So what do we do now?"

"We get out of here before more Kraangdroids show up." Leo answered.

"We can't just leave him here." Mikey cried out, approaching the injured mutant with a softness only Mikey had, "What if the Kraang find him?"

"Well, what do you want to do? Take him back to the lair?" Leo said sarcastically.

Mikey clearly didn't see it that way and immediately pulled out his big puppy dog eyes that Leo was far too weak against.

"No." Leo immediately protested, "…No! Did you see what that thing did to those Kraangdroids? We are not taking that monster home with us."

"Geez, sounds familiar. 'Raph'?" Hikari rolled her eyes at Leo. Raph, on the other hand, was annoyed and uncomfortable.

"He's not a monster!" Mikey stepped in to defend the mutant, "He's a… giant Kraang-crush mutant alligator monster. I said monster, didn't I?"

Leo, Raph and Donnie all disagreed with taking the mutant with them, despite Mikey's arguments. Hikari wasn't going to let the Kraang get to this creature either, "Fine, we'll bring home back ourselves. Come on, Mikey."

Hikari and Mikey did their best to pull the creature back to the lair, but he was a big creature and neither of them were strong enough to move him. Mikey decided to ask his brothers for help, "You wouldn't happen to have a forklift with you? No? Didn't think so."

Leo eventually caved and helped them out. The five of them all put in the effort to drag the giant mutant back to their home and away from the Kraang. He still didn't know how to interact with his team now but he felt like everything was starting to come apart at the seams.

* * *

After they got him back to the lair, they placed in the pit because he was far too big to fit into Donnie's lab. Hikari and Mikey stepped in to care for him, with Hikari checking his body for injuries and Mikey getting items like blankets and his teddy bear for him. The others were still not happy with them for wanting to take in a monster that could tear into Kraang like that with no effort.

"I can't believe we let them talk us into this." Raph said from a distance.

Mikey didn't care. He placed a pillow from the couch under the mutant's head and his own teddy bear under the mutant's arm, "Aww, look at him. He's so peaceful."

"That's because he's out cold." Leo said.

"I'm not surprised, he's hurt really bad." Hikari remarked as she noticed the darkened ridges on his back, "He has scorch marks all over his body, and that's not even counting scars."

Donnie came back from his lab with a length of heavy chain in his hands. Mikey wasn't pleased with it, "Woah, what are those for?"

"We can't keep him here unless he's chained to something really big."

"That's so wrong, he's not gonna hurt anyone. We're the ones who saved him" Mikey argued.

At the moment, Hikari noticed a scar on his chest. She wasn't as gentle as she was hoping when she examined it, and the mutant's eyes opened milky white with slim pupils. Hikari immediately noticed and pushed Mikey away from him, "Mikey, move!"

The mutant let out a loud roar and reached for the first thing he could reach, which unfortunately was Donnie. He grabbed Donnie's head and thrashing poor Donnie around. "Ahh! Get him off me!" Donnie's screaming was muffled with the hand on his beak. He tried fighting the mutant by scratching the hand but it wasn't doing much

Mikey pushed Hikari away and pulled out his kusarigama, "I'll save you!"

The chain wrapped around Donnie's waist and Mikey did his best to pull him away from the mutant's grip, "Not like that!"

Hikari timed a kick to the mutant's waist, made him roar again as he threw Donnie, and Mikey being connected by the chain, at her. Raph tried attacking him again but the mutant just threw him off to the side. He only stopped after Leo shot him with one of Donnie's taser guns, "Are you happy now, Hikari?"

She glared at him, ready to start another fight, when Master Splinter came out from his room, "What is all this commotion?"

"Sensei, Mikey and Hikari made us bring a mutant back to the lair and it attacked us." Raph pointed to the two angrily.

Hikari fought back, "He needs our help!"

"It's a monster!"

"Raphael. There is no monster that is more dangerous than a lack of compassion." Master Splinter paused when he heard the ominous growling from the unconscious mutant, "My mistake."

Mikey spoke up too, "We're doing to him what everyone else does to us, judging him by his looks."

"And the fact that he grabbed me by the face, Mikey!" Donnie shouted in outrage.

"But he was fighting the Kraang, Master Splinter. It's like you always said, the enemy of my enemy is my bro."

"That is not exactly what I said." Splinter sighed before getting back to the matter at hand, "But what is this about the Kraang?"

"They keep hurting him, trying to force him to tell them where to find some 'power cell'." Hikari explained.

"And he refused to tell?" Master Splinter seemed thoughtful about what his children were saying.

"Yeah, they were all like 'zap zap zap' and he was like 'ROAR! NEVER!'." Mikey helpfully supplied.

Hikari winced as she listened to Mikey's recap, she soon realized she really wasn't as over it as she hoped she was. "Thank you, Mikey. Please never do that again."

"Sorry, nee-chan."

"Umm, I see." Splinter pondered, "You made a wise decision, Michelangelo and Hikari."

"What?" They all were surprised, but Mikey just smiled proudly.

"Yes, I never thought I'd hear myself say that to Michelangelo either." Splinter approached the mutant, noting his wounds and marks on his tough scales, "His scars run deep, but they protect a genuine heart. When he wakes up, you two must find a way to befriend him."

"Of course, Sensei." Hikari bowed, grateful that he was willing to give them a shot.

"No problemo." Mikey smiled.

"We need to learn what he knows about the Kraang. In the meantime, you three try to find his power cell before the Kraang can."

"But we're still chaining him up, right?" Donnie asked.

"Of course. I'm compassionate, not insane." Splinter noted.

The team moved some stuff out of the way before chaining the mutant's wrists to a cement pillar, they wanted to chain his torso and feet but Hikari and Mikey were adamant that keep his hands chained was more than enough. After completing it, the three left the lair to start looking for the power cell.

* * *

Mikey wanted to cook something for their guest and headed straight for the kitchen to start working on it. Hikari on the other hand, needed advice and went to the only person she could get an answer for a question like this. She entered the dojo where Splinter was mediating, "Sensei, I wanna ask you something."

"Of course." He opened his eyes and invited her to sit down.

She sat down in front of him before speaking her mind, "I know you see him as a monster too. Why were you willing to let him stay?"

"Impressions change with effort and time. Time is a powerful force and it can strip a man down to their purest self. I have decided to give this mutant a chance to form that impression, but I will not forget the threat he poses."

"I thought everyone deserves a second chance."

"And so I let him stay. But I would be foolish to pretend nothing had happened, Hikari."

Hikari's mind lingered on the last part. She never thought about it that way. After all, how can you give someone a chance if all you can think about what the wrong they had done? Before she could figure it out, she heard the mutant roaring again.

"Sounds like he's awake" She stood back up, "I better go help Mikey."

"I try to stay out of… relationship issues. But I hope you know that you may always come to me if you need help."

"Thank you, sensei." Hikari smiled as she left the dojo.

Mikey was walking up to the mutant cradling a large pot by the time she got there. "Well. Look who's awake." Mikey said.

"You! Set me free!" The mutant demanded as he lunged towards the two of them.

"Hey, keep away from him." Hikari stood in front of Mikey with the shield from her guard up, "We don't want to hurt you."

"Sorry about the chains." Mikey apologized, "The guys said we have to keep you locked up or you'll attack us."

"Who are you? What am I doing here?"

"I'm Michelangelo." He introduced himself from behind her, putting his hand out only to retract it when the mutant snapped his jaws at Mikey.

Hikari was tense after seeing all that aggression and did her best to shield Mikey from him, "And my name is Hikari. I won't let you forget it if you try something like that again."

"Nee-chan, chill." Mikey said in his comforting voice, "I'm fine and we're gonna help him, ok?"

Hikari turned around to see him with a supportive smile and an open peaceful stance. It helped calm her nerves down and remember why she was doing this, why she was so adamant about saving this mutant.

"Yeah, thanks nii-chan." Hikari turned back to the mutant with a more open and friendly attitude, "Let's try this again. We are ninjas living down here in the sewers."

"Uh-huh, the five of us saved you from the Kraang."

The mutant's yellow eyes turned milky white again as he screeched, "Kraang!"

Hikari and Mikey were in a safe distance from the thrashing beast but Hikari understood what Sensei meant now. However, she still believed that he deserved a fair shot. He deserved a chance without her worrying when he'll attack them next. She felt even worse when she noticed him tiring himself out from all the struggling. Her hand rubbed her wrists unconsciously while Mikey went to console him, "Woah! Woah! It's Ok, you're safe. We brought you here so you could get better. And nothing will heal you faster than my world-famous pizza noodle soup!" He declared as he held out the pot he had been carrying.

"World-famous?" Hikari questioned jokingly.

"You liked it." Mikey said as he fed the mutant some of his soup.

"Well yeah, but I don't think that makes it-"

"This is the best thing I ever tasted." The mutant sounded quite pleased.

"Really? Alright! Another person who likes my cooking!" Mikey cheered as he continued feeding the mutant.

"Eat up, Mikey loves it when people enjoy his food." Hikari giggled as she petted Mikey's head. The three of them now sitting on the ground with a warm relax atmosphere.

"Thank you for the meal." The mutant said as he cleaned out the pot.

Mikey waved his hand like it was nothing, "It's no biggie."

"It looked like you really needed it." Hikari sighed, "I guess you've been on the run from the K- _them_ \- for a while now."

"It has been 6 months since my escape. It had not been easy trying to navigate the city by myself."

"I know what you mean, I'd be lost out of my mind if it weren't for these guys."

"So what's your name anyways?" Mikey asked.

"I… do not have one." The mutant averted his eyes.

"You don't have a name?" Mikey stood back up with purpose, "Well today is your lucky day, cuz I'm a genius at naming stuff, I even gave Hikari her name."

"Mikey, Splinter gave me my name."

"Yeah, but I was close."

"You wanted to name me Light."

"And Hikari means Light. I don't see the problem here." Mikey massaged his own temples and got closer to the mutant, "Now shush… Let the genius work his magic. Let's see."

Mikey took his role very seriously, inspecting every inch of the mutant to find the perfect name for him. He stopped at the mutant's head and gave extra attention to it, "Your head is kinda leathery. How about headleather? Heather?"

"No." Hikari deadpanned.

Mikey's eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "Oh, wait! Leatherhead!"

Hikari paused and smiled, "That's actually pretty cool."

"Leatherhead it is then." Leatherhead nodded gratefully, "Thank you, my friends."

"No problem, it's what I do." Mikey shrugged before asking Leatherhead, "So I've been wanting to ask you, why did you go all crazy eyes on my brother, Donnie?"

"Your brother?" Leatherhead looked surprised and mortified.

"Yeah. Instead of shaking his hand, you shook his face, and most of his body."

Leatherhead's posture changed after that. He seemed ashamed and remorseful after hearing what Mikey said. Hikari noticed that, as well as the self-doubt in his eyes. Knowing that feeling quite well, she tried to stop Mikey from saying any more, "Mikey…"

"There are times when I lose control. When I awaken, I am horrified by what I've done. A monster like me deserves to be chained." Leatherhead answered, looking at his clawed hands with regret and guilt.

"Or maybe you think you're a monster because people treat you that way." Mikey said with a warm smile.

That lifted Leatherhead's mood as he nodded, "You are wise beyond your years."

"Well, you're not the only one dealing with that." Mikey looked at Hikari who was silent and pensive, "You two talk for a while, I'm gonna get more soup."

Mikey stood back up with the pot and heading into the kitchen. Hikari shook her head fondly, "Mikey's a real sweetheart. You're in good hands, I know it."

"He is different, I have never met someone with so much kindness towards others."

"They all are, kind and wonderful in their own ways. The world will never see them as anything but monsters. I know better. They saved me, gave me a new name and a new family after _they_ killed mine. I know they're willing to help you too, so let us all help you."

Leatherhead said nothing more, letting her words sink in. Mikey reappeared with a fresh pot and a tray balanced on the top of the pot. "Here you go, Leatherhead." He placed the pot in front of Leatherhead before taking the tray with two more bowls on it, "I got you some too, in case you want lunch."

"Sweet, thanks nii-chan." Hikari took the other bowl from his hand. Before she took a sip, she glanced at Leatherhead and said, "You know what, it'll probably be easier for you to eat once you're out of those chains."

Leatherhead seemed apprehensive about it, "But what if I hurt you again?"

"We can work on that." Mikey answered, bouncing excitedly as he and Hikari undid the chains around his wrists. After the weight of those chains was gone, Leatherhead felt much better and he joined them for a nice round of soup.

* * *

The two did do their best and helped Leatherhead calm down enough that he now roamed the lair freely. They had shown him their rooms as well as techniques to help calm him down when he felt stress. Hikari did her best with the poor experience on the matter but she wanted to help Leatherhead the way Donnie kept trying to help her. In a way, helping Leatherhead also stabilized her better.

As Leatherhead was heading back into the kitchen for more food, Hikari felt a weird pulse and a sense of panic crawling up her spine. "Woah… Something really freaky is heading towards us."

"Hey, they're back!" Mikey ran over to his brothers, "Guys, Leatherhead is totally off the chains."

"You mean you set him free?!" Raph shouted in disbelief.

"What? No. Off the chains means he's cool." Mikey explained, much to their utter relief.

Hikari smirked and crossed her arms, "And that's why we set him free."

The three were dumbfounded when they saw Leatherhead walking out from the kitchen with another pot of Mikey's soup, he gave them a genuine smile while they had their jaws open.

"You two let that maniac lose?" Donnie squawked, then pointed at Hikari, "You're supposed to be the smart one!"

"Hey!" The two cried out indignantly.

"Maybe you two forgot that he grabbed me by the face…So let me remind you, he grabbed me BY THE FACE!" Donnie screamed as he gestured to his very distressed face.

Raph just rolled his eyes and pulled him back, "Relax, you've been hurt way worse than that."

"Yeah, besides it can't be wrong than the time Rockwell beat you up in front of April."

"That's low, even for you." Donnie shot Hikari a dirty look. She just scoffed and looked away.

"You two shouldn't have unchained him, what if he goes berserk?" Leo scolded them.

Hikari was in a far fouler mood and she was ready to start a fight with each one of them, "Well if you're gonna chain up Leatherhead again, you might as well find some power draining cuffs for me too." She put her wrists up in Leo's face, daring him to even try.

Leo was absolutely done with her petty fits, "Why do you keep arguing with me? I wasn't even talking about you."

Raph and Donnie weren't going to intervene, they were just as fed up as Leo was. None of them wanted to deal with her while she was like this. Mikey had to step in and be the voice of reason, "Sis, come on. Don't do this now."

Hikari saw Mikey's pleading expression and took a step back to rein her temper, "You're right. I'm sorry, Mikey. Sorry, Leo."

He then turned to Leo with reassurance, "And he's not gonna go berserk. Leatherhead's totally mellow."

Leo was unsure but Mikey seemed confident so he decided to take a chance. He approached Leatherhead slowly, cautious to use the right words, "So Leatherhead, about the Kraang…"

"Oh solars." Hikari yelped, she knew what was coming.

Leatherhead didn't react well to that and started raging again, "KRAANG!"

Mikey immediately took action by jumping on and petting Leatherhead's snout, "Dude! Chill! Chill…" Leatherhead soon calmed down enough for Mikey to reprimand his big brother, "What were you thinking?"

"I thought you said he was mellow!"

"I didn't know you were gonna ask about _them_."

Leo frowned and asked, "Ok, what should I do?"

"Maybe be a little more considerate of the mutant who was attacked by _them_?" She glared at him.

"Hikari. I don't need another attitude on the team."

She was ready to restart another argument but Mikey just looked at her again, it was enough for her to keep her calm, "Look, just start with something simple. Like, how was your day?"

"Fine." Leo put on a smile and a friendly persona, "Leatherhead, how was your day?"

"It started out awful." Leatherhead said between his labored breaths.

"Yeah, you were attacked by the Kraang." Mikey said, not realizing what he said until after he said it.

"Oh for Sparks sakes, Mikey!" Hikari shouted as Leatherhead went through another blackout.

"My bad!" Mikey cried as he did his best to calm him down, "Hikari, gonna need your help!"

Hikari pulled his snout down and started petting like she always did with Mikey, humming a tune to help ground him. Mikey, on the other hand, was reaching as many calming points as he could get to, "Cleansing breaths! Cleansing breaths…"

Eventually, Leatherhead calmed down and the red haze clouding his mind dissipated for now. While Hikari kept petting his snout, Mikey spoke to him in the most calming tone possible, "You know you're in a safe place now, right?"

"Yes."

"My brothers just want to ask you a few questions. Do you think you can handle that?" Once Leatherhead nodded, Mikey turned to his brothers, "Ok, what is it you wanna ask?

The three turtles were not ready to try again, Leo was not ready to start with Leatherhead again. So he did what any big brother would do when he didn't want to do something, make his little brother do it. Both Leo and Raph turned to Donnie, who just sighed and wished he could've be anywhere else right now. He stepped forward with the power cell in hand, "Ok. W-We just wanna know what this is."

Hikari noticed the weird pulsing she felt earlier getting even stronger when Donnie walked closer to them, but she completely froze when she saw the power cell. Leatherhead had a different reaction to seeing the power cell in Donnie's hands

"Thieves!" Leatherhead screamed before he grabbed Donnie's face.

"Oh come on!" Donnie cried out, "This is not my day!"

Hikari snapped back to the moment and pulled out her weapons, "Leatherhead, let Donnie go! We don't want to fight you."

"Speak for yourself." Raph growled. He charged at Leatherhead with his sais out. Leo followed with his katanas out. Leatherhead swiped Leo away with one hand and threw Donnie at Raph, knocking them both to the ground. The power cell dropped out of Donnie's hand and Leatherhead rushed over to it. Raph got up and kicked the power cell away, causing it to roll near Hikari. Leatherhead's eyes tracked the power cell, and that distraction was enough for Raph to jump onto his back. Raph climbed up to his head and used his own weight to push Leatherhead to the ground as Raph grabbed the power cell. While on the ground, Leatherhead folded his arms close to his chest and start to roll towards Raph at a high speed. Raph, cornered with nowhere to go, threw the power cell at Hikari before being crushed under his weight and the rolling attack.

Leo and Donnie tried pulling Leatherhead away from Raph, with Leo pulling on his tail. Leatherhead just moved his tail to pick Leo off the ground before swinging him back down with enough force to knock him out cold. Donnie was next on his list as he started snapping his jaws at Donnie, forcing him back before throwing Donnie against the wall with his snout.

Hikari was petrified by the power cell but the moment she held it in her hands, she couldn't control it. There was a huge surge of power traveling into her body the moment she touched it, it became too much for her and it all discharged out of her in a pulse of purple energy. Leatherhead stopped his attack and charged at the source of the energy blast, thinking it was Kraang or some new weapon they created. Hikari was still dazed and twitching as purple electricity cackled on her skin and around her body. Leatherhead swung his tail at her and knocked the power cell out of her hands. Leatherhead held her wrist down and opened his jaws, ready to snap down on her neck. Mikey's kusarigama chain looped around his open mouth and was pulled back from her windpipe.

"Leatherhead, relax!" Mikey shouted as he yanked the chain. Leatherhead gave up on her when he spotted the power cell across the room. He moved away from her and grabbed the power cell. Mikey yanked at the chain again, "Put that down!"

Leatherhead just clamped down his jaw with enough force that it snapped the chain holding him back. Now free, Leatherhead turned to Mikey as his next target. He swung at Mikey, causing him to crash against the cement pillar. Before Leatherhead could get any closer, a loud commanding voice halted everything.

"Stop!" Splinter commanded, outraged by what the creature had done, "Get away from my children!"

Leatherhead didn't listen, choosing to attack Splinter instead. But Splinter was in a class of his own, he dodged every attack and countered every move. He knew actually where to strike and where to position himself, Leatherhead's large size and weight made no difference when he was up against a ninja master like Splinter. When he tried to crush Splinter with his pounce, Splinter simply shifted his position and used Leatherhead's own weight against him as he threw Leatherhead towards the stairs by the turnstiles.

"Leave this place. Out!" Splinter bellowed.

Defeated, Leatherhead grabbed the power cell and left the lair. Now that the threat was gone, he could be a worried father to his injured children. He first rushed to Raphael's side, "Boys, are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Leo answered as he rubbed his sore head, "Yeah, we're alright."

Mikey was by Hikari's side, looking like someone just destroyed his favorite toy, "Hikari? Nee-chan, please."

"What's wrong with her?" Leo asked as he rushed next to her.

"She's freaking out!"

Hikari was shaking and panting, her eyes were dilated and unfocused. But soon she sat up sluggishly and muttered in a jittery voice, "I-Is it gone?"

"What?" Donnie asked, confused.

"That crystal. Is it gone?"

Raph answered, "Yeah, Leatherhead took it."

"That thing has some crazy power. That energy signature was in every Kraang base, but I've never felt one that strong...or touched one like that. It was nothing like I ever felt before coming here." She looked around and noticed one missing turtle, "Where's Mikey?"

Now that she said it, they realized that Mikey was gone and had somehow slipped away without them noticing. It didn't take a genius to figure out where he went, but the genius was still the one to ask it, "You don't think he went after Leatherhead, do ya?"

"No. Only an idiot would-" Leo trailed off when he confirmed his own statement, "Oh boy."

"Ugh… Mikey." Hikari sighed. She was weakened from the blast, it had drained a lot of power out of her. But she wasn't going to let Mikey go after Leatherhead alone.

"Come on, team." Leo said as they all left to track the two down.

Lucky for them, they found a fresh set of tracks to follow. As they go further down into the subway tunnel, they start hearing something. "Do you hear that?" Hikari asked, "It's Mikey… and classical music?"

They ran faster to the source, a dimly light subway car sitting in the middle of the tunnel. They can hear Mikey and Leatherhead inside. Raph took action and dove through the door with the rest of the team, "Get away from Mikey, before I turn you into the world's ugliest suitcase."

"Please, I mean him no harm." He pleaded to them, "It was the Kraang that made me this way. I was raised by a kind human boy until his parents discovered me and dumped me into the sewers. The Kraang found me and took me to their dimension. They mutated me and subjected me to horrible experiments, but they could not break my spirit. 6 months ago, I escaped through the portal that they use to travel to Earth and I stole this." He ended the story by showing them the power cell again. Hikari had to back away until her body hit the wall of the subway car.

"What does it do?" Donnie finally asked the question he had all this time.

"It powers the portal." Leatherhead answered, "Without it, no Kraang can enter or leave this dimension."

Suddenly they hear a low chuckle that escalated into manic laughter, "Ha..Ha..HAHAHAHA" They all turned around to see Hikari with tears running down her cheeks and her eyes were lifeless and empty, "So that's what it was. All this time, I was wondering why. Why they drained me for my energy. It was all to find some replacement battery. I'm sorry, I'm glad you did what you did."

In a way, Leatherhead understood her and just nodded, "I swore to keep it from them and spare this world from their evil, even at the cost of my own life."

They were interrupted when they heard the sound of blaster whirring to life and the door getting blown open. "Give to Kraang the power cell that Kraang has come to demand that you give to Kraang." The Kraangdroid at the door said.

"Ahh! It's the Kraang!" Mikey shouted.

"Quick! Barricade the doors." Leo said. Donnie, Raph and Hikari moved to close it but the Kraang were already climbing into the car. Hikari started stabbing and kicking droids that make it into the car with Raph. Leo was cutting droids down and Donnie did push the door shut. They thought they had enough time for a plan but that quickly went out the window when the Kraangdroid arms started bursting through the metal walls, reaching for them like they were zombies.

"We're surrounded!" Mikey cried out.

"We'll never hold them off." Raph said as he broke off a droid arm reaching for him.

"We gotta get out of here." Leo turned to Donnie, "Donnie, can you get this subway car going?"

"The track is dead, there's no electricity."

"What about the power cell? Can you use that?"

Donnie thought about it and answered, "I might be able to hook it up to the motor, but I'll need time."

"I will buy you time." Leatherhead stood up as he handed Mikey the power cell, "My friends, you trusted me. Now I am trusting you. I will deal with the Kraang."

Leatherhead let out a loud proud roar before heading out for battle.

"Not alone."

"Don't you dare."

"You guys get the power cell out of here, I'll stay with Leatherhead and make sure we both get out of this alive."

"Why do you insist on going against me? Why do you make me worry about you?"

"I don't even know anymore." She smiled sadly, wishing she had a better answer to give him. It might have been selfish, but she gave him a quick peek on the side of his beak, "Go, call me when you're safe."

Leo was shocked for sure, but she didn't want to wait and see what came after the shock factor went away. She jumped out of the subway car and activated her scythe, "Hey Kraang! Miss me?"

"It is the Lightfury that has escaped from Kraang." The Kraangdroid said before it and a few others next to it got slashed in half. She twirled her scythe around and spun it into another group of Kraang. Kraang blood and robot scraps were covering the subway track. When she was busy with the ones before her, she nearly got shot by the Kraang aiming at her from behind if Leatherhead hadn't saved her.

"What are you doing here?" Leatherhead asked forcefully, she knew that just meant he was worried, "You should be escaping with Michelangelo and his brothers."

"And you shouldn't have to do this alone. I know how awful that feels." She said before plunging her energy blade into a Kraang brain, "Besides, I can't say I'm doing this for totally selfless reasons."

Leatherhead said nothing more and both of them just continued tearing the Kraang apart. It became more and more mindless as they continued, revenge and anger, none of that mattered more than keeping them away from the turtles and the power cell. She felt the same chilling pulse again as she made it through another wave/

"They did it…" Hikari rushed to Leatherhead's side and put as much energy as she could into both her Athenian Guard shield and the uni-weapon shield, "Leatherhead, get behind me!"

She never pulled off a stunt like that, but she needed something big enough to protect the both of them. Putting everything she had created a shield big enough for them and strong enough to go against the outburst of energy that came when the subway car sped off into the tunnel. The good thing was that it took care of every other Kraangdroid in the area.

Hikari's knees gave out as she dropped the shields and Leatherhand caught her before she hit the tracks, "Are you alright, my friend?"

"Mm-hmm, booyakasha." She mumbled and gave a tired smile, "You good, Leatherhead?"

"I am fine." He said, standing up with her in his arms as he headed for the lair.

"That's good. Always great to get your anger outta your system." She sighed, "I made a mess of things. I treated everyone so badly, especially Leo. All because I was mad at him."

"Life isn't without its faults. You are young and you will learn from these mistakes."

"Maybe we can learn from each other. As horrible as it sounds, it's comforting to know there is someone who understands. The Kraang captured me after they killed everyone on my ship, I was brought to Earth for reasons I now know, to use me a replacement power cell. I would've probably been mutated too if the turtles didn't save me."

"I am sorry you had to experience that."

"I am sorry you were taken away from your human friend. Maybe we can find him again?"

"There is no point clinging to the past, I doubt he would want me like this."

"Well I want you around, and I know Mikey wants you around." She looked up at him, no longer was he going to be treated like a monster, but as a protector and a good friend, "You're not going to be alone anymore. I promise."

* * *

Splinter was not happy to see Leatherhead in the lair again, but hearing Hikari's tale on how he fought so hard for his children and the planet made him open his mind and willing to give him another chance. Hikari rested on the couch while Leatherhead and Splinter went to have a chat in the kitchen. He left before the turtles returned, saying that he would need a new hiding place now that the Kraang found him before. But she made him promise to tell him where it was so they could go visit him. Leatherhead was surprised but Hikari could tell he appreciated it.

With all that extra time on her hands, she made use of it by thinking about how she had been acting and came to a decision. After the boys got back, Hikari stood before them and started, "Hey guys, I want to apologize for the way I've been acting. I was a brat, and you all shouldn't have had to put up with that. So, as a punishment, you guys can ask me to do whatever you want me to do for the next two days."

"Well you're gonna have a lot of cleaning to do then." Leo joked but she knew how literally it was. Living with four teenage boys definitely didn't make that easy. She conceded and just smiled at Leo for the first time since her failed confession.

After the others headed off, Raph stuck around to ask her, "So, what brought little miss sunshine back?"

"Honestly, Leatherhead. Seeing how hard he tried to control himself to not hurt people, made me realize I really didn't have a reason to act like that, especially towards you guys. You're my family and I shouldn't have taken my frustrations out on you guys."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have. But it happened." Raph shrugged, "Do you want a ride now that you're finally over your angst?"

She nodded, "Same place, same time."

"Don't be late again, we've been cutting it close enough as it is." Raph reminded her. She just rolled her eyes and got ready for when the others went to bed.


	13. The Wild Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a little different as it takes place over the nights in between the earlier chapters. I have listed the times when the events were happening throughout the story. Hope it won't be too weird.

**A Few days after New Friend, Old Enemies**

Raph was waiting for the others to go off to their own rooms for the night. It was finally ready and he wanted to take it out for a test drive. He snuck off into a service room he and Donnie repurposed as a garage for the Stealthbike. Donnie wasn't happy with Raph being in his lab/garage so they found a spot and scavenged some tools for him to use. After Donnie fixed up the bike from a metal skeleton, he gave it to Raph and told him that it was his responsibility now. Raph took care of it almost as much as he did Spike. After working on it for over a month, he was going to take it out on the surface for a cruise.

He started on stealth mode, cruising in the subway tunnels until he made it out the entrance. He smiled as he disabled the muffler on the bike, laughing with glee as the bike roared down the streets. He ripped through the outskirts of the city and turned on stealth mode again when he was approaching Chinatown. He saw a bunch of thugs beating harassing a man, forcing him into a car before taking off. Raph thought that it was his lucky day, not only did he get to test-drive his bike but he also gets to kick some butt all in one night. He followed them to the theater district and hid the bike before jumping to the rooftops, heading to the building he saw the car parked.

To his surprise, the fight has already started. He jumped in through a boarded window and punched one of the thugs as he tried to grasp the situation. He was faced with a spear to his throat. After the adrenaline stopped, he got a good look at everything around him and the person who stood in front of him.

Both of them asked in unison, "What are you doing here?"

* * *

Life in the lair was great, but it wasn't always easy. The turtles were a family she didn't know she wanted or needed, and she wouldn't wish them away for anything. However, she needed time to herself and there just wasn't enough room for her to just be by herself. So, she snuck out every once and awhile to do something she wanted to do. She couldn't care less about the Kraang during this time, she wasn't in the mood to fight. She wanted to let go of all the stress and she believed she found her outlet when she saw a billboard the other night.

It was a live orchestra concert for Your Name happening this week and she wanted to go listen to it. But she knew that she couldn't go there like everyone else, it was expensive and she wasn't going to beg Sensei or April to spend all that money. So, she did what any teenager with ninja skills did, sneak out and watch the show from the rooftops.

She planned everything to the letter, waiting until the lair was silent until she snuck out and headed straight for the theater district. She found the place and made it just in time before the first act. She made her way into the theater and watched the performance from the rafters. She felt at peace as she heard the musical numbers she loved. She let her body sway and get lost in the music as the scenes from the movie play in her mind.

There was an intermission and she had to sneak back out before any workers spotted her there. While she was sitting out on the rooftops, she heard a car going much faster than it should be in a city district before parking in an alleyway. Hikari got curious and decided to investigate. Soon she found a man who was being held hostage in a dilapidated building along with four thugs who sound like loan sharks, if them constantly talking about the man missing payments was any clue.

The thugs started being more hostile and threatened to cut off his hand, that was when Hikari took action. Using the dim lights from the signs outside, she hid in the shadows as she took down one of the thugs in the room before disappearing again. The other men were spooked and on guard. She kicked another one into the wall before any of his comrades could spot her. Now that the thugs were focused on finding her, she snuck back and cut the man free. She mouthed at him to run, which he did with a grateful look. The thugs realized the man they captured was running out of the room and tried to give chase. Hikari tried to step in when she heard a loud sound of wooden boards breaking.

The two thugs were surprised as well, one of them fell onto the ground with a loud thud and the other dropped after a punch from the intruder. Not knowing if it was the Foot, she quickly positioned herself and activated her uni-weapon, changing it into a spear and pinning the intruder by their neck.

She only let her guard down when she noticed those familiar green eyes looking back at her with the same look of shock and they both asked the same question.

Hikari lowered her spear and Raph relaxed after they recognized each other. They left the building and walked to the alleyway Raph left his stealth bike at. Both of them shared their stories of how they got here and they laughed at the sheer coincidence of it all.

"So, you snuck out here all to listen to music from a movie you've already seen?" Raph looked at her like the idiot she was.

"I needed some alone time and I really liked that movie." Hikari laughed it off, she stopped when she saw the bike and marveled at it, "I didn't know you had a bike."

"Well it's not like we keep it in the lair, Donnie likes his own space." Raph explained.

The show was long over and they knew the sun would be coming up in a few hours. They had to get back before anyone noticed they were gone at all. "We should get back before the others wake up." She suggested.

Raph looked at her, "Just so we're clear, we ain't saying a word about sneaking out tonight."

"Not unless you want Splinter and Leo on our case, I know they mean well but it's nice to be out here alone."

"Yeah." Raph got on the bike and started the engine, "Hop in, snowflake. Unless you wanna walk all the way back."

She was surprised he'd offer. She always believed he just tolerated her for the longest time, the Spiderbytez incident changed it but he still managed to throw her for a loop. She got on the back of the bike as he drove off. With nothing else to grab onto, she clung to Raph's shell. As they sped down the streets, she couldn't help but wonder, "I thought you're supposed to wear a helmet for this."

"I thought you're supposed to shut up and let the driver focus." Raph yelled over the sound of the engine. She rolled her eyes, knowing that was as good as an answer as she was going to get from him.

* * *

**The Night after the events of I think his name is Baxter Stockman**

"Man, after what happened with Splinter, we definitely can't be caught sneaking out again." Raph complained after he stopped his bike in an alleyway.

"Tell me about it. I'm gonna be sore for the next 3 days after that Randori." She said as she hopped off the back, "Thanks for the ride."

The two of them had an unspoken rule, that they weren't going to tell anyone about them sneaking out after everyone else went to bed. Raph didn't want his brothers on his back while Hikari liked the free time she could spend getting lost in the performances happening without worrying about the Kraang or weird stuff happening in the lair. Raph would give Hikari a ride to the theatre district before going off on his own joyride and picking her up at a set time. So far, this had been working out for the past few days and now they had someone to watch their backs if something went south.

Raph put the vizor of his helmet back on, she bugged him enough that he just got the two of them helmets to shut her up. "Just be ready in 2 hours. You're walking home if I don't see you."

Hikari gave her a half-assed salute and started climbing up the fire escape to the theater buildings. Raph just rolled his eyes and revved his engines. He just got the bike a new little upgrade and he wanted to really test it out. He enjoyed hearing the roar of his ride but it is still a stealth bike and the new muffler Donnie made should make it practically silent.

After spending his time zipping along the Hudson river, he parked his bike at the same alleyway and waited for her. He started worrying after 20 minutes, but then he noticed her jumping down into the alley.

"Jeez, I was starting to think you actually weren't going to show." He then noticed the dazed look on her face, "You good there, Hikari?"

"Yeah… I just saw the most amazing thing. Come on, you've gotta see this." Hikari led up to the back of the building she was just at. They snuck down to a window where a group of performers were using trapezes in their routine, Raph didn't understand why this was so amazing but Hikari looked like she discovered butter on rice for the first time in her life.

After they got back down to the alley, he just asked her, "They swing around and do flips, so what? We do stuff like this all the time."

"Yeah, but they look so free. It's like they're flying." She said with awe in her voice.

"Don't faint on me now. I'm not carrying you home like Leo does." He threw her own personalized sticker helmet to her and got on the bike.

She caught it and put it on with a playful grin, "Leo is a gentleman, something you should learn."

"Yeah, that's why he does it…" He rolled his eyes, "Time's up, let's go."

* * *

**The night before Hikari tells April (Monkey Brains)**

Today was different from the other times they snuck out, because this time Hikari asked him to take her out and to stick around. It surprised him but he figured it was something important and just did as she asked. Now they were sitting on top of the abandoned building they first came to. Hikari just sat there with her back against the ledge so he sat next to her and she started, "Raph… I wanna talk. You don't have to say anything, I just need to work this out."

"Uhh… Ok?" He said, confused.

"So… I think I like Leo."

The moment she said that he immediately wanted out of this uncomfortable situation, "Shouldn't you be talking about stuff like this with April?"

"Shush. Just let me rant, I need to get this out or my mind is just gonna burn out." She said before staring down at her feet and continuing, "I think I really like him. I mean I trust him with my life and he's really sweet. He's strong and cute and-"

"That's it. I'm out." He stood up and took a few steps away from all the romantic baloney, "Look, talk to April or Donnie. They'll know way more about this stuff than I do."

"But you know Leo better than anyone else. I need to know, do you think he likes me back?" She asked him shyly.

"Do I thi- Are you kidding me?!" Raph would rip his hair out if he had any, why did those two have to be the biggest idiots in the universe? "He's basically clinging to your shadow. He's been like this since the day you moved in. He'd marry you in a heartbeat if he knew you'd say I do. If you really like him, please just end his misery. Take your own advice and tell him that."

Hikari was stupefied to hear all of that, but the small smile that cracked on her face let Raph know that he said all the right things. "I think I will." She said with stars in her eyes.

After that outburst, he just sat back down right next to her. "I'm not gonna lie. If things go bad between you two, I don't know which one of you I should beat up. So, don't let it happen."

She laughed at that and punched him in the shoulder, "Thanks, Raph."

* * *

**Right after the ending of Never Say Xever **

Donnie and Mikey didn't know what to do after Leo went on ahead. Hikari was still standing there, staring at the direction with a blank expression. Raph offered to keep an eye on her and bring her back once she got it out of her system. Mikey didn't question him but Donnie was skeptical about how tactful his brutish brother could be when handling someone experiencing all kinds of emotional imbalance and distress. He would probably fight a little harder if he knew what to do himself. As it stood, Raph seemed like the only one who could understand what she was going through. So, Donnie and Mikey left after reminding Raph to check in with their T-Phone if he needed their help.

Raph led her to down into an alleyway and into a corner where they won't be spotted by any humans before just sitting on the ground, like the night she awkwardly confessed her feelings for Leo to him. He waited for her to do or say anything, and after a while she blinked and sat down next to him, "I think he hates me."

"Leo doesn't hate you. He'd hate Mikey before he'd think of hating you."

"You didn't see the look on his eyes, the disgust I saw." She shook her head and hid her face behind her hands, "Xever told me I had the eyes of a killer, and the worst part was he was right. I might have killed Xever that night in the factory if I didn't miss… I'm a monster."

Hearing her talk about herself like that after everything he and his brothers told her ticked him off, but knowing that she let Xever get under her skin like that made it even worse, "You're a lot of things, but a monster ain't one of them. You've got guts. I don't think I'd make it this far if I lost my brothers."

Hikari didn't say anything for a while before sighing, "I still hate the Kraang. I do. But I don't know if I should kill them anymore, not when I could see Leo looking at me like that. I feel like no matter what I do, I'm letting everyone down."

"We already told you, we don't hate you. Leo's just gotta get all that holy righteousness he's got stuck up his shell and he'll be making goo-goo eyes at you again."

"Pretty bold claims there, Raphael." She laughed, she felt better now that there was hope for change, "Murakami said something like that, 'no storm lasts forever'. I just hope it'll be over soon."

* * *

**The Night of Hikari's confession (Panic in the Sewers)**

After dragging her despondent butt out of the lair, he dropped her off at one of the theater buildings on the district before heading off to Murakami's for some food. He didn't know what was playing tonight, or if something was playing tonight, but he was just hoping anything was better than letting his sister mull through everything that happened all by herself.

"Here." Raph handed her a warm box of pizza gyozas before sitting down with his own, "You know Leo's a complete idiot, right?"

Hikari said nothing and just ate the gyozas in little bites, not even showing a hint of emotion. Raph was honestly tired of picking up after Leo's messes, especially when it involved his love life which Raph wanted no part of. He put his gyozas to the side and did his best to comfort her, "I don't know what's going through Lame-nar-do's head right now. But anyone who's not blind or deaf knows that he's crazy about you. I think even Murakami-san knows."

"Why does that matter? He doesn't want to be with me." She said with a low chuckle.

As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. This was between those two morons, even if it affected everyone else on the team. "So, what's gonna happen now?"

"I'm not leaving if that's what you're worried about." She answered his worries, "You guys are still my family, besides it's not like I've got anywhere to go."

"We're not gonna force you to stay if you're not happy here." He said, "You're always welcome no matter what happens."

"You know Leo isn't the only reason I'm staying with you guys, right? I love you all too much to just leave. I can't imagine my life now without Donnie's explosions or Mikey's crazy antics or your sweet secret sentiment towards Spike." Raph punched her shoulder when she mentioned Spike, that got a small laugh out of her before she got lost in her own head, "I'm still pretty ticked about it. If everything you said was true, then maybe he's not letting himself admit he likes me… Could that be it? He doesn't want to like me so much that he'd fake it until it went away?"

That was not where Raph thought she was going with this, "Woah. Slow down there, snowflake. You're making up some Mikey-level nonsense right now."

"Well what am I supposed to think?" She shot back, her anger building up now with her volume, "The first person I trusted on this planet chose to hide his own feelings from himself to distance himself from me."

Raph knew crazy when he saw it, but she was really going off the rails with this, "I don't know why he said no. But I don't think Leo's crazy enough to _pretend_ like he doesn't care about you."

"Well I don't know what to think anymore. Why does Earth make relationships so complicated? We just let the other know when they have feelings for them. We dance, we spend time, then we resonate, or we don't. Why can't things be that simple?"

"Hikari. We're teenage mutant turtles, simple ain't in our books."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have even suggested it!" She shouted, and that was enough to set him off.

"You're blaming me for this? Are you serious?" Raph was outraged. Gyozas now cold and forgotten, he stood up and walked off, "I'm not gonna take this. I can't believe I'm saying this, but _you_ need to cool off."

For the first time since they snuck out, Raph went back alone and angrier than he was before. And if he noticed she came back a few hours later than they normally got back at, he wasn't going to check on her.

* * *

**Present Night**

Things have calmed down now that Hikari apologized for her childishness and her selfish fits, it also helped that Hikari hung out with Leatherhead more to talk more about their past with the Kraang and how they could stop them from finishing what they started. As for the punishment she set for herself, the guys didn't make it easy for her. She was stuck with cleaning the kitchen and the dojo a lot, and Donnie's lab when something in his lab went horribly wrong. Mikey mostly got her to do things he wanted to get out of, which bothered her less than Donnie constantly asking her to fight repaired and updated versions of Metalhead. Donnie was still working on Metalhead and having Hikari as a constant sparring partner helped to configure Metalhead's fighting skills. Raph just made her be his personal butler, making her wait on himself and on Spike.

Hikari was hardly complaining after the angst storm she put them through, but that didn't mean she was happy to mop up the sweaty dojo mat four times in a day or walk back and forth because one of the brothers was too lazy to get up for some chips. But it was all worth to fix the damage she did to her friendships with the turtles, especially with Raph. She regretted blowing up at him like that and she was relieved when he asked if she still needed a ride.

However, nothing could stay hidden forever. All it needed was one sign that something was up and everything would collapse. Unfortunately for the two, Leo wasn't sleeping well that night. Although Hikari had made amends with his brothers, his own relationship with her was still on the rocks. She had stopped trying to go against him and even tried to treat it as if nothing had changed. He still trained her and they still watched Space Heroes together, but every time there was always something looming whenever they interacted.

But since Leo couldn't sleep, he did what he always did and checked on his family. Mikey was sleeping fine, Leo didn't even need to check his room when he could hear his snoring from the door. Sometimes, he wondered how much of a contradiction his baby brother was. As much as they all ripped on him, Mikey was an amazing ninja but he was also such a clumsy loudmouth, and he just made it work. Leo smiled fondly and shook his head after peeking in to see Mikey's sleeping form.

Donnie was sleeping in his room for once, even if it wasn't in his bed. Leo sighed and took the pillow and blanket on Donnie's bed and carried them over. With the stealth only a ninja had, he placed the pillow on the desk and under Donnie's head before draping the blanket over him. Donnie was probably going to wake up with a sore neck tomorrow but maybe that'll help convince the guy to actually sleep in the bed.

As he approached Hikari's room, he wasn't sure if he should do it. He was stopped doing that after their relationship first went south, but something felt off tonight. No matter what happened between them, he still really cared for her and he didn't want anything to happen to her. After a moment of debilitation, he decided to just crack open the door a little just to make sure she was sleeping fine.

To his surprise, she wasn't there. Her bed was empty and he knew that lump on her bed wasn't her. She didn't sleep with her blanket over her head so he would notice a slight glimmer from her hair if it was her.

No, Leo didn't check on her _that_ much. He was just worried and she told him that she hated the feeling on something on her face when she slept… Shut up.

Just to confirm his suspicions, he opened the door and went in to check. Sure enough, it wasn't her and a set of her weapons were gone too. He started freaking out at the idea that she might be up to the surface in the middle of the night by herself. He decided to check on Raph before searching the sewers. She could've just had a bad night too and wandered around some of their usual routes.

Leo wasn't exactly the calm and controlled leader he usually was when he swung open Raph's door, despite knowing _really well_ that he shouldn't have. He was stunned when he noticed Raph wasn't in his room as well. Leo scanned the room to find that his mask and sais were gone too.

Now with two members out of their rooms, Leo wasn't going to try and do this alone. He went back and woke Donnie and Mikey up, neither of them were happy that Leo woke them up before the sun was up. Once Donnie and Mikey met up with Leo in the halls, Leo gave them a brief recount of what he found out. They were more awake when they heard that Raph and Hikari had left the lair while they were all asleep.

"Any ideas on where they'd be?" Leo asked his brothers.

Donnie thought about it, "Raph's probably working on his bike. He's been pretty busy with it lately."

Leo didn't think to check there. When Raph went off on his own, it was usually best to leave him alone and let him get it out of his system if there wasn't some threat coming to kill them. His bike garage was his usual go-to when they couldn't go up to the surface.

They all headed over to Raph's garage. He wasn't there either but that wasn't the only thing the three noticed was missing. "That's weird, the stealth bike's not here either." Donnie remarked.

Mikey was busy looking around in the room since he never really got to. He wasn't really allowed in Donnie's lab and Raph made it his personal mission that Mikey never stepped foot near his bike. He spotted a whole bunch of mechanical parts and gears, but the thing he didn't expect to see was a small stack of books. He picked up one of the three on the workbench and recognized the cover, "Raph still reads these things? I thought we got rid of them when we were nine."

Donnie looked over and recognized the book Mikey was holding, "These are Hikari's. I gave her some of them to practice."

Donnie took the books there and sure enough, it was some of the slightly advanced ones that he gave her last week. He also noticed a pack of used stickers in the trash next to the workbench, he pulled it out and wondered why it was there. Raph was never one to have stickers anywhere near his stuff.

It didn't take Donnie long to piece it all together. The fact that Hikari had her books in here at all meant that she spent time in this room and that Raph had to have _let_ her come into the garage. "That means…" Donnie's face paled when he figured it out, "Uh-oh."

"Call them. Now." Leo said behind gritted teeth, he figured it out just after Donnie did and he was not happy with those two right now.

* * *

Raph was parked underneath an overhead subway track at the southeast end of the city, he was working on boosting the bike's max speed and he was testing it out at a place where the surrounding noise would be loud enough to mask the sound of his engine. His test was to beat a subway train that was going about 55 miles per hour by at least 5 minutes.

Before the train arrived, his T-phone started ringing. That was already a bad sign since Hikari wouldn't call him now unless she was in trouble, and if it wasn't her… Raph sighed when he saw who was calling him, it wasn't her.

"Aww, sewer apples." Raph picked up his phone, "Hey Leo, what's up?"

If it was anyone else, Raph would've just let it ring off. But Leo had mentioned that they should pick up their calls unless they were compromised. Not picking up would just make Leo hunt both him and Hikari down like wanted fugitives.

Leo had his fake chipper voice, "Hey Raph, where are you?"

"Why?"

"Because we noticed you and your bike are missing." Leo said matter-of-factly, "And since you picked up, that means you're not in danger. So get back here with Hikari before we start tracking you down."

"Alright, chief. Calm down. We'll be back soon." Raph hung up before letting him talk again, "Stupid Leo."

He then called Hikari who picked up pretty quickly and wasn't happy that her night was interrupted either, "Raph! Time isn't up yet. The acrobats are about to end the show on their triple flip routine."

"Leo and the others know we're out here, we gotta back."

Hikari groaned on the other side of the line, "Ugh… just come pick me up then."

Raph just rolled his eyes and hung up, it wasn't like he was thrilled about his brothers ripping him a new one for sneaking out. As the train rumbled across the tracks above him, he sped off back to the theater district in record time. He parked his bike behind the building where she told him the show she wanted to see was happening. He started getting frustrated when he didn't see her there waiting for him, "Hikari? That girl's gonna get me in trouble."

He got off his bike and snuck into the building to look for her, not noticing a couple of foot ninjas watching him enter from the rooftop across the street. Raph stuck to the shadows as he looked around the backstage area, it was dark and quiet so he assumed the humans must've finished their show and left. "Snowflake, where you at?" He hissed into the empty hall.

"Over here." She called from somewhere above him.

He walked over to the stage area where he looked up past a giant net above him, to see her on the top platform of a flying trapeze with the bar in her hands. He shouted in disbelief, "What on Earth are you doing?"

"I just really wanna try this out." She said excitedly, stepping behind and getting ready to jump.

Raph was ready to march up there and pull her down himself, "Hikari, we got busted and we have a shooting squad waiting for us."

"At least let me do this before we go out in a blaze of glory. Please!" She begged.

Even from beneath the net, Raph could see her try and pull off Mikey's stupid puppy dog eyes. Raph wasn't giving in, he was just giving up. He folded his arms and just growled, "Hurry up."

Hikari ran forward and jumped off the platform like she saw all the performers did. Once she reached the peak of the swing, she did a backflip before stretching into a T-pose and bouncing safely on the net with her back into a complete stop. Once she got off the net, she had the biggest grin on her face. Raph just shook his head, she looked like Mikey after they all let him eat the last piece of pizza. It had been a while since he saw her smile with so much unbridled joy.

That smile didn't stay for long when they noticed someone lurking in the shadows watching them. The Foot ninjas started revealing themselves one by one. Hikari became a little tense when she realized how outnumbered they were, "Foot!"

"Come on, the stealth bike's outside." Raph said as the two of them ran back to the bike. They quickly hopped on and took off, but the Foot were ready and started catching them down with vans and bikes of their own.

That's when they realized the Foot weren't really trying to stop them, the Foot were banking on them escaping and hoping that the two of them would lead them to the lair. So they had to keep looping around the city, trying their best to throw them off. Eventually, the Foot ninjas must had realized that they weren't going back so they started attacking them with ninja stars.

With no other choice, she pulled out her T-phone and called for help, "Donnie, we need help. We're in Chinatown and the Foot's on our tail."

" _We're tracking your T-Phone now. Stay around there and we'll be there soon._ " Donnie said before he hung up.

Hikari pocketed her T-phone before pulling out her uni-weapon, "We gotta stall!"

"Working on it." Raph grunted as he continued to swerve out of the way from a bike trying to smash into them.

Hikari tried to take out as many of them with her spear as she could while protecting Raph and herself with her shield. She even stabbed her spear into the engines of one of their vans. But there were always a few that stuck on their trails.

"There's too many of them." Hikari cried out over the roaring bikes.

Their luck ran out when a ninja star managed to hit the back tire, tearing into the rubber and getting stuck onto the center of the wheel. Hikari and Raph were both thrown off the bike as it skidded into a streetlight. Hikari was wearing her leather jacket at the time and her clothes protected her well enough that her injuries were only skin deep. Her helmet was cracked but she was mostly fine. Raph, on the other hand, retreated into his shell for most of the impact, which meant that he was fine too. Although the same couldn't be said for the stealth bike.

"Oh, come on!" Raph shouted when he saw his precious bike turned into a washed hunk of metal. The Foot got out of their vehicles and surrounded them, Raph pulled out his weapons and stood protectively in front of her, as Hikari's were broken during the crash. "How long until they make it?"

"Booyakasha!" Mikey yelled as he and the others dropped from the rooftops.

Hikari could've cried in relief at the moment, "They're here."

With the whole team together, they defeated the Foot soldiers and left the scene in case Dogpound showed up. They all walked back to the lair, with Raph pulling his bike alongside him, in silence. Leo was still stewing over the lies and the jealousy he felt. How long had this been going on for? Were the two of them dating now? Were they getting close? Leo couldn't think straight with all of this clouding his mind.

Hikari was worried. She knew it was her fault that the Foot caught up to them. If she had just left when Raph told her, they might have been gone before the Foot could've assembled and avoided the whole conflict. Worst of all, Leo found out and he wasn't yelling at her like when he first found out about her violent tendencies towards the Kraang. He was silent and fuming, like a volcano waiting to erupt. That made it so much worse.

All she wanted was an outlet and something for herself, but what was supposed to be a harmless secret between her and Raph caused them all nothing but grief. Her own selfish desires might've gotten Raph killed tonight or their home exposed to their worst enemies.

Raph put the broken stealth bike in the lab before facing the music with Hikari in front of his brothers. "Talk." Leo commanded.

Raph spoke up first with his foot forward, "Look fearless, it's my fault. Hikari found out about the bike and said that I couldn't make it work without Donnie. So I took the challenge and tried proving her wrong with a joyride."

"What are you doing?" She pulled him by the shoulder.

"Keeping you out of this."

"No way." She glared at him before confessing to Leo, "Raph's covering for me. I've been sneaking out of the lair to the theatre district on my own."

"What?" Donnie scolded her, "You know we're not allowed there."

"I know, I just wanted to enjoy some time alone."

"How does Raph fit into this?" Leo asked.

Raph answered it honestly, "I was taking my bike out for a test drive and ended up in Chinatown. I saw a guy getting kidnapped and went after him to the theater district. We ended up in the same fight."

"How long has this been going on?"

"A month or so." Hikari said, "I was the one who begged Raph for a ride every time so I wouldn't be as tired in the morning."

Raph was not happy with her trying to shoulder blame again, "Oh no you don't, I offered it and you'd been an idiot not to take it."

"You didn't have to and now you're in trouble too." Hikari argued.

"I was gonna get in trouble either way, have you met me?"

"Enough!" Leo stopped their bickering. He had heard enough and hearing them trying to cover each other's backs like that lit a deep burning fire in his gut, "Look, whatever happened is over. You two are not sneaking out of the lair like this again. Hikari, you are not allowed to go to the theatre district again. Understood?"

"Yes, Leo." She nodded compliantly.

"Raph, I'm making Donnie keep the stealth bike under lock."

Raph immediately protested, "What?! You're crazy! It's my bike."

"Well, you shouldn't have gone crazy with it then. I'm the leader and it's my call." Leo shot back, getting up in Raph's face. "Also you two will be under supervision till I can trust you again. If you leave the lair without telling anyone, we'll start tracking you right away."

"Leo…" Donnie wanted to speak up against it, but the heated glaze Leo sent his way silenced him.

Leo turned back to Hikari and Raph, crossing his arms and demanding an answer, "Understood?"

"Understood." Hikari accepted.

Raph, unsurprisingly, wasn't yielding, "I can't believe this. Call me when you get off your damn high horse."

Raph stomped off to his room with a loud slam. Hikari said nothing as she locked herself in her room and wept, deeply ashamed of herself and what could've happened tonight.

Now that the two were out of earshot, Donnie confronted Leo about his decision. "Leo, what were you thinking?"

Leo uncrossed his arms and said in a tone that sounded way too forced to be calm, "It had to be done, you saw them earlier. If we hadn't come to save them, who knows what the Foot could've done to them."

Mikey could see where Leo was coming from, "Yeah… But that was really harsh, dude."

"What they did was unacceptable, Mikey. They need to know that their actions have consequences." Leo left after saying that, heading off to his own room.

After Leo left, Mikey turned to Donnie. "This isn't just about sneaking out, is it?"

"No." Donnie shook his head.

"What do we do, Donnie?"

"I don't know."

The two little brothers started fearing the worst, that the thing that was going to destroy them wasn't the Kraang or Shredder, but each other. They started wondering if they had to watch their family fall apart and if there really was nothing they could do to stop it.

* * *

After the miserable night they had, Splinter had to cancel morning lessons but told them that they would have to make it up during their evening ones. He was not happy when he woke up to see that Leonardo was the only one awake and ready for any kind of training. Splinter was not even sure if Leonardo was up for training today with how unfocused his usually studious son was.

Splinter broke out of his meditative trance and confronted him, "Your spirit is unruly, Leonardo. Is something wrong?"

Leo sighed, breaking out of his meditative trance too, "It's nothing, sensei. I just had to punish Raph and Hikari for sneaking out."

"Hmm…" Splinter stroked his beard, "Is that the reason you are so unbalanced?"

Leo paused before confessing under his sensei's stern glare, "Well, not entirely."

Splinter took a moment to compose himself before he said anything. He had to remember that Leonardo was still learning, "A leader must be level-headed at all times, he mustn't let his personal emotions affect the team."

"Do you think I should go back on it, sensei?"

"I think you have to ask yourself if your own punishment was just or the result of a bout of anger."

That wasn't the kind of answer Leo was hoping for and he dropped his head down with a groan, "Why is this so hard?"

"Matters of the heart are never easy, my son." Splinter consoled Leonardo with a hand on his shoulder. As knowledgeable as he was about ninjutsu and the mind, he was always clueless when it came to love. The very fact that he had a daughter with the woman he loved was a miracle that he never understood. He wished he could give his son some advice, some words of wisdom about relationships like other parents could. Unfortunately, Leonardo had a father who could only watch on and pray for his children's happiness.

* * *

Raph was halfway done with his cereal by the time Hikari came into the kitchen. He could tell she didn't get any sleep either, her hair was a complete mess and she didn't change before coming in for breakfast. She looked despondent while Raph was still fuming over Leo's punishment for them.

"How could you go along like that?" He asked with his fist clenched around his spoon.

Hikari knew that Raph wouldn't take his punishment that easily. She answered as she prepared her toast, "You know what we were doing was wrong, we were lucky enough to get away with it for so long. Leo was right, we put ourselves at risk. You could've died that night, all because I wanted to play on the trapeze."

"So, you're just gonna do whatever he says?"

"Whatever happened between us doesn't change the fact that I trust him as my leader."

"I'm not gonna apologize."

"Like I could force you to." She scoffed before running her hand down her face, "We're still a team, and Leo just wants to keep us safe. Just stop fighting him about this."

"He wants to watch us like toddlers. You can't be ok with that."

"You shouldn't be." Leo's voice cut through their squabbling, "You're right, I went too far with that. I'm not going to track your T-phones if and when you go up to the surface, just make sure that someone knows. The Foot are still after us and we can't risk them finding us here."

Hearing what could've happened fed her guilt even more. She had to apologize, "Leo, I'm so-"

"Stop, I get it." Leo cut her off, before looking at her confused face and giving a sad smile, "Just don't get hurt."

Leo left them alone after that, Hikari and Raph were very confused by what Leo meant or what made him change his mind after last night.

"What just happened?" Raph blurted out.

Hikari shook her head as she watched Leo go into Donnie's lab, "I don't know, but it doesn't feel right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is an interesting format that I don't think I'll do again. I had this idea for a while and I wanted to show how Hikari and Raph's friendship had been growing behind the scenes. If you read back after New Friends, Old Enemies, I did leave little hints of this secret they kept from the others.
> 
> This story has gotten so much love and reads over the last week, it is honestly incredible. I love you guys so much XD
> 
> I do have a little Christmas gift in the works that I was really hoping I could've sped writing this up for. Honestly, I was expecting that Hikari and Leo would have gotten together before Christmas but their relationship had a lot more trials than I anticipated. So I'm gonna give you guys a little sneak peek into the where it has already happened.
> 
> The story is now out, it is called the Gift of the Ninjas. Please check it out and show some love.
> 
> Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation :)


	14. The New Girl in Town

The team was in an odd state since the day Hikari and Raph were busted for sneaking out. Leo was silent and refused to talk with them. Raph was angry and constantly beating the dummy whenever Leo was in the same room as him. Hikari just looked like she was hurting but she didn't know what to do anymore. Mikey hated it, he wanted things to go back to normal. Back when his big brothers fought over stupid stuff all the time, instead of brooding all serious like that. Hikari didn't even pay any of them much attention, she moved like a toy running out of batteries.

He did everything he knew of. He tried pulling everyone in for TV time, but it just ended with awkward silence and everyone leaving once the show was over. He made an awesome dinner with each person's favorites, but they looked like they were eating glass instead. He even tried pranking them, which ended with Leo glaring at him but didn't do anything, Raph genuinely scaring him, and Hikari just accepting it mutely.

But the worst was when they were on patrol. Instead of jumping around and having fun, they didn't say anything. Even then, Raph didn't immediately follow Leo's orders either. Tonight, they were all chasing down Snakeweed, who had been kidnapping humans for some reason. At first, he was goofing around a little like usual, hoping that he'd at least get Hikari to laugh. It felt like forever ago since his family was really happy.

Suddenly, Snakeweed showed up and started running down into Chinatown. The team gave chase, but Snakeweed still managed to hurt this city by taking away one of the people that keep this city going strong, the noble pizzaman. "No! Not the pizza guy, take Donnie!"

"Snakeweed's getting away!" Raph shouted.

"Hikari, could you cut through his vines again?" Leo asked as they chased after him.

"I might hit the guy if I try, too risky."

Snakeweed turned into an alleyway. Leo smirked as he noticed it, they now had the advantage. "We've got him trapped."

"Let's go." Raph pulled his sais out and marched towards the alleyway before Leo stopped him.

"Hang on, Raph. We're not charging a 12-foot regenerating mutant." Leo reasoned.

Raph challenged, "Then what are we doing?"

"We'll take Snakeweed from above, tie him up in the clothesline." Leo pointed to the web of clothesline between the upper part of the alley. He walked up to the wall, "Come on."

"That'll take forever, and we need to stop Snakeweed now." Raph objected, "I mean, he's kidnapping people."

"Not just people, people who bring pizza!" Mikey interjected.

"We take him from above." Leo commanded, "Let's move."

Leo started climbing up the wall of the building as Mikey and Donnie followed. Raph shot a dirty look at Hikari while she started grabbing the bricks of the wall, "You're just gonna follow him again?"

Hikari wanted to slam her head into the wall, "He's our leader. So help me, Raphael. Because you do not want to start this now."

Both of them quickly joined Leo, but not without Leo's reprimanding look at them before getting into position. As they all waited for Leo's cue, he got ready to engage but paused when he saw that neither Snakeweed or the pizza guy he grabbed was there anymore. The team all looked over and saw the same thing.

Raph was not pleased, "And the award for worst leader goes to-"

"How am I the worst leader?" Leo immediately got into defensive mode.

Raph was getting annoyed again. Leo had been getting on his nerves more than usual, he had been getting bossier and Raph wasn't going to put up with it any longer. "If we did this my way, Snakeweed would've been toast by now."

"This way would've worked if you'd stop second-guessing my orders or arguing with her about it."

Hikari was not happy getting pulled into this mess but she held her tongue, Leo was just upset and she knew firsthand that people say a lot of hurtful things when they're not thinking straight. She just wanted this to be over so they could go home.

Unfortunately, Raph wanted to continue this fight, "Don't give bad orders and I won't second guess them."

Finally, Leo had enough. "You know what, Raph. If you think you can do better, then you lead."

"First good idea you've had all day."

None of the three were expecting Leo resigning his leadership to Raph. They honestly didn't think that it'll go this far.

"We'll compromise." Mikey stepped between them, "I'll lead."

Leo and Raph were not happy with that and both redirected their glares at Mikey. Mikey shrank as Hikari pulled him away from the two of them. "Look, we can deal with this later. We still need to work together to track down Snakeweed." She tried reasoning with them.

"He's the leader now. Go ahead, Raph. The team's yours." Leo threw his hand up and walked away, "I'm outta here."

"Leo, wait!" Hikari called out but Leo didn't even look back. She then turned back and faced Raph, "Hamato Raphael, what in your shellshocked brain made you think this was a good idea?"

Raph's fury now had a new target, "What? You don't think I can be a good leader? Or are you so blinded by Leo's ego that you forget the rest of us exist?"

"That is not true, and you know that better than anyone here."

"So you _can_ still see us, you just don't trust us. Well, I don't want to work with anyone who's just gonna hide behind Leo's shell when things go south."

"Well, I don't want to work with anyone who's too blinded by their own emotions."

"That's rich coming from you!" Raph chuckled darkly.

Hikari saw that she wasn't getting anywhere with Raph right now. She took a calming breath and decided to go after Leo, hoping that he was still the more rational of the two. "I'll see you guys." She ran after Leo, ignoring Raph's taunts until they became nothing but mindless white noise.

* * *

Hikari managed to spot him as he leaped from building to building. She moved faster and called out to him, "Leo!"

Leo was not in the mood for any kind of company but he really didn't want to see her right now, "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be happy with Raph."

"What are you talking about? The team's gonna be a complete mess without you leading us."

"No-No." Leo laughed, "Apparently he can do it better."

She sighed, clearly Leo wasn't ready to come back yet but she still had to try, "You know he's still ticked off about the bike thing. Just come back and we can sort this out."

"Why do you want me to be leader so badly? If you think Raph shouldn't be leader, then you take over."

"Leo, I trust you more than anyone I know."

He scoffed at that, "Really? It sure doesn't feel that way sometimes. How many times have you gone against my orders? How many times did you lie to me? Is this how you treat someone you trust?"

She was taken aback by his words, "I…"

He stepped into her space and looked her right in her shaken eyes, "Face it, I mean nothing to you. And I'm not going to stick around for a team, especially a girl that won't give me an ounce of respect."

She was frozen with horror as everything he said stuck in. Every word cutting into her the further she looked back, it was all too much. So she did what she always did when it happened, she ran away. Her body moved and got her away from Leo as quickly as possible. When she calmed down and regained her senses, she nearly broke down as she pulled her phone out and made a call, "April, can I come over really quick?"

The moment April said yes, she made her way to April's apartment and knocked on her door. April opened to see Hikari distraught as she stood there by the doorway, "Hikari, what happened to you?"

Hikari allowed her to lead her to the living room. The two girls sat on the couch before Hikari said with a cracked voice, "I hurt him so badly, I didn't know… and the worst part was that I was ready to ignore it all again until he had to _tell_ me how much I hurt him."

April paused and asked, "Do you need me to get the ice cream?"

"No, I'm still clearing up my ice cream debt from last time." Hikari cleared her throat before telling April everything, "Leo finally had enough of our crap and bailed on us. I never realized how much he hid and hid, and tonight was the spark that sent it all flying and crashing. The moment I lied to him about everything, whatever trust he had in me went away and what's horrible was that I kept doing it. I took him for granted, expecting him to come in and make everything better again. All while I kept secrets and did things my way, I was selfish and cruel and I expected so much out of him."

April sat there and listen as Hikari poured her heart out. After she stopped, April gave her two cents, "You and Leo have a lot of baggage to work through"

"Baggage?" Hikari asked.

"Emotional baggage. All these complaints and arguments that you two just ignored, they're going to break you both until you deal with it."

"How do we even deal with something like that?"

"Talking, like what we're doing now." April explained, "Have you ever told Leo everything you've told me so far?"

"No… We keep dancing around it, I always thought it'll just go away and we can forget about it."

"Well, it doesn't. You have to talk it out with him before its too late. No more running."

Hikari remembered the night Leo first walked away from her, the night after their fight with Xever. She remembered thinking that they'd never recover from it, but she was wrong. There was still a chance as long as they were willing to talk. Hikari strengthened her resolve, "No more running."

Hikari gave April a hug before she walked out the door, "Thanks April, you really are the daughter of a psychologist."

"Happy to help." April smiled.

Hikari hopped into the nearest manhole as she pulled out her phone. She had a lot of opening up to do and she figured she'd start with the easier of the two. Her call went into voicemail so she talked as she headed over through the tunnels, "Hey Raph, it's Hikari. I'm sorry for making you think I don't trust you, I want to help you beat Snakeweed and I'm ready to follow your way to do it. Anyways, I'm heading to the lair right now. Call me if anything changes."

She slowed down when she felt someone following her. She activated her energy blade and sliced the vine coming at her. Snakeweed's voice echoed through the sewers as he stood in front of her, "You should know better than to walk alone at night."

"I shouldn't talk to strangers either but here I am."

"Do you really think you can beat me alone?" He asked, and she knew the answer. She backed away and tried running away from him, but he saw this coming and quickly grabbed her left arm and one of her legs. He pulled her up into the air before wrapping one of the vines around her throat and choking her until she passed out.

Now unconscious, he took her back to his hideout and placed her in a pod. Her energy was more powerful than anything his normal human fertilizer could produce, and he intended to keep feeding off of her until she had nothing left to give.

* * *

Leo said nothing as he walked Hikari run from him. His already foul mood was made worse after he blew up at her over everything. While she was out playing hooky with Raph, he had to worry about everything. He was never allowed to be selfish and when he wanted to, it kept backfiring on him.

He took out his frustrations by kicking air vents and working it off by constantly moving. He stopped for a moment but that was enough for a few people to drop behind him. He turned around and scoffed, "Foot clan? You guys just made my night."

He got his katanas out and faced the Foot ninjas head-on. They got their weapons out and started to fight. Leo took care of them easily, with well-timed strikes and kicks to knock them out. He barely broke a sweat before the four ninjas were out for the count. But it did help him get his anger out, "I feel so much better."

While he was busy fighting the Foot, he failed to notice a pair of eyes watching him. She had been watching him since he split from his team and yelled at the girl earlier. While Shredder was after them all, she was far more interested in this one. She made herself known as she spoke from the billboard she was on, "Not bad."

Leo turned around to see spotted the figure on the billboard and he stood ready to face her too. He could tell she was a kunoichi by her uniform but he never expected to actually talk to one, "Uhh… Thanks?"

"You might actually be a challenge if that was how you treat your girlfriend." She mocked as her hand reached for the hilt of her tanto.

His focus was broken as he sputtered, "Hey, she's not my-"

That moment was enough for her to pull her blade out of its sheath, a thick trail of white blinding powder followed as she swung the blade at him. The white powder hit him and it burned his eyes and throat. His eyes watered and he couldn't do a thing to stop her as she rushed down like a bullet. She had him pinned down against the ledge of the building with the blade against his neck.

"Guess not." She said before retracted the tanto. He was still stunned as she removed her mask, "My name is Karai. See you around."

She jumped off the building and into the night. The first thing Leo could say was "What was that?"

Leo couldn't make sense of it, why she didn't just finish him off or why she revealed herself. Ninjas work best in secret after all, maybe that was just the way the Foot clan worked. After all, a giant mutant dog and a leader with bladed gauntlets weren't exactly subtle.

Now out of steam and thoroughly confused, he headed back to the lair to see what his team had been up to. He could hear them in Donnie's lab and let himself in. Mikey was the first to spot him, "Leo's back. And he's been crying." He hugged him and looked at him with those soft comforting eyes, "Aww, you missed us."

Leo stopped him right there, pulled Mikey out of his hug and told him the truth, "I got hit with blinding powder."

"Sure... Big softie." Mikey smirked, obviously not buying it.

Raph was a little blunter in his approach, "And where have you been?"

Leo dismissed him, "Don't see how that's your business."

The two got into a staring match, willing the other to break and give up first. Unfortunately, Leo was still not ready to step in line with Raph and wouldn't yield. So, Raph let it go, "Fine. Whatever."

Mikey decided to try his luck again with his big bros, "Dudes, can't we just be cool with each other. Let's hug this out."

Raph was unamused and punched him in the gut, forcing his arm off of Raph's shoulder as he leaned on Leo for support. "Ok…now the healing can begin." He muttered in pain, "Nee-chan, help me out here."

"She's still not back yet, Mikey." Raph sighed, sick of telling him the same thing eight times in a row.

This raised some alarms for Leo, "Hikari's still out there? Where is she?"

"Last I check, you put me in charge of the team. So, let me handle it."

Donnie cut them off with some great news, "Guys, I think I just figured out where Snakeweed's hideout is."

"Where?" Leo asked.

Just as Donnie started to explain the reasoning and the area, Raph stopped him from saying anything more before turning to Leo with a snide attitude, "Actually, you're on a need-to-know basis. And guess what, you don't need to know."

Leo scoffed at Raph's remark and left the lab. He was far more unimpressed with how childish Raph was acting now that he was leader. Well, he was convinced that he didn't need Leo or Hikari for this mission, then Leo wasn't going to step in and tell him otherwise. Sooner or later, Raph was going to come back defeated and Leo was going to enjoy being the firing squad for once.

* * *

Raph was pretty proud of himself when Leo stormed out of the lab like that. He was doing just fine on his own. They decided to go on ahead to find Snakeweed's lair before anything happened to the humans he captured. Mikey and Donnie were still worried about Hikari and where she went. Raph rolled his eyes but pulled out his T-Phone to text her the address, only to find his phone was dead. He probably forgot to charge it or something, so he got Donnie to text her. Now, they were walking through the sewers and keeping an eye out for any signs of Snakeweed or the humans.

Mikey remarked as they continued through the tunnels, "Man, it really stinks around here."

"It is a sewer, Mikey." Raph said.

"I mean more than usual. Where does all this stuff come from anyway?"

Raph and Donnie both looked at him surprised before Raph whispered to Donnie, "Hikari probably knows more about Earth than Mikey does."

Donnie chose to ignore Raph in favor of explaining things for his little brother. "Uhh, Mikey. It's…" Donnie whispered his explanation into Mikey's ear.

Mikey jumped away from the water and shouted in repulsion, "What?! Don't they know we're living down here?"

"Keep it down, guys." Raph called out, shutting the two of them up.

They continued down their path and Donnie couldn't help but point it out, "Wow, you sound just like Leo."

Raph took offense to that right away, "You say that one more time and I'll shove your head in the sewage."

"And now you sound like you again." Donnie muttered and turned to Mikey, "How does she deal with those two?"

Mikey shrugged, ending the conversation as Donnie checked back on his map.

They soon entered a giant room with weird plant life growing all over the place. There were tall giant pod-like plants with smaller ones surrounding them, they all had some liquid inside them with an unnatural glow radiating from the plants and they were releasing some kind of green fog that was filling up the room. "Wow…" Mikey let out in awe of the room.

Donnie still had his head in the map and couldn't figure out why they hadn't seen it yet, "Snakeweed's lair should be around here somewhere."

"Ya don't say." Raph rolled his eyes as he went forward to investigate.

The three of them surveyed the area, checking to see if Snakeweed was near and searching for the humans. Mikey snuck a peek into one of the smaller pods and saw bubbles coming on the surface. Donnie was curious and followed Mikey's lead. They both backed up in horror when they saw a human face floating up to the surface.

"He's growing humans." Mikey gasped.

"He's not growing them, shellbrain." Donnie corrected, "He's keeping them captive."

"For what?" Raph questioned, "He's a plant, he can't eat 'em"

"He's probably turning them into fertilizer."

"Ugh… Is that really where fertilizer comes from?" Mikey groaned.

"Actually, most fertilizer comes from…" Donnie explained to Mikey once more, but with a much more satisfied and cunning smile.

"What? Is there anything that doesn't come from _that_?" Mikey cried out in disgust.

Raph got fed up with them and took control back, "Enough. Let's cut 'em loose."

He pulled out his sai and started cutting the outside of the plants, being extra careful not to hurt the humans inside. Donnie and Mikey started doing the same, cutting them loose and pulling humans out of their pods.

Mikey noticed one pod was glowing better than the others, he checked it out and saw their missing teammate inside. "Hikari!" He shouted in shock. The cry drew the others over as Mikey pulled her out of the plant.

Donnie did a quick check on her once she was out, "She's still breathing, Snakeweed must've grabbed her while she was out there."

Raph was tense when he heard Mikey shout her name, he didn't think they'd find her down here. But that tension left when Donnie cleared her, he couldn't help letting out a sarcastic remark to hide his relief, "Typical. She gets in trouble and we have to save her."

"I'm not dead, you know…" She said in a raspy voice, much like how she did when she woke up after her surgery.

Raph couldn't help but laugh, "Then step up your game, snowflake."

"Nice to see you too, Raph." She smiled at her friends. Donnie and Mikey held her up as she stood up, not quite strong enough to walk on her own yet.

They hid away and watched as the humans left the hideout without questioning much. Raph couldn't be prouder of himself. His first time as leader and he saved all the humans and found their missing teammate. He turned back to the team with pride, "Not only was that a job well done, but that was a job well done without Leo."

The other three's face shifted to horror as they looked behind him. Raph looked back and saw Snakeweed looming over them and screeched, "My fertilizer!"

"What now, boss?" Mikey asked nervously.

Raph took action and gave his order, "Donnie, get her to safety. Mikey, you're with me. Let's hit 'im hard."

Mikey passed her onto Donnie and pulled out his nunchucks. Donnie quickly pulled her aside and placed her against a wall. Raph and Mikey charged at him right away, Snakeweed just whacked them away before trying to grab them with his vines. Both of them dodged and cut the vines coming at them. They tried again, only to be thrown at the wall.

"Wow, we're totally losing." Mikey couldn't keep the sass out of his comment.

Raph shot back, "Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Then get your head in the game, bro." Mikey responded, "You're supposed to be the leader!"

Once Hikari was secured, Donnie jumped in to attack Snakeweed. He jumped high and swung his bo staff at the back of Snakeweed's head. Snakeweed sensed it and reacted by sending his vines to grab the staff and throw Donnie against the same wall as his brothers.

"Get back in there!" Raph commanded.

"And do what?" Donnie asked.

"Go for the head."

"I just did!"

"Do it… better!" Raph sputtered.

"Great! Four times in a row, he'll never see that coming." Donnie muttered but did as Raph said. He tried striking at Snakeweed's face, only to be swatted away like a fly.

Mikey then looked to Raph, "Now what, chief?"

Raph wasn't sure, his only strategy was what he knew, "Go… for the head."

"Fifth time's the charm." Mikey said with confidence. He went in with his nunchucks spinning but Snakeweed grabbed his foot and started spinning him around like a nunchuck before tossing him aside. Mikey's body tumbled across the grates and concrete before his head crashed hard against the wall, knocking him out completely.

"Mikey!" Raph's horrified screams echoed through the chamber.

Snakeweed went for another attack, a barbed vine going straight down at Mikey's head. Hikari pushed herself up and staggered as quickly as she could, diving onto his plastron as the shield from her guard took the full force of the blow. It shattered the shield, but it was enough to save Mikey. Donnie got Snakeweed's attention while Raph rushed over to Mikey's side.

Donnie did his best but he couldn't do much by himself, "Raph! A little help here!"

"Just… hold him off." Raph hollered in panic as he kept staring at his baby brother's unconscious body, hoping that it was just another of his stupid pranks, "Come on, buddy. Wake up. Don't do this to me."

She spotted a vine heading for Raph, so she pushed him aside and put her guard up, "Look out!"

Unfortunately, she didn't recover enough energy for another shield yet so the vine hit her arm and face, striking her hard as her body rolled until she hit one of the pods.

"Hikari!" Raph froze as he watched her body roll across the floor. Raph didn't know what to do anymore, this wasn't how the mission was going to go. His family wasn't supposed to be getting hurt like this.

Donnie kept Snakeweed at bay and deflected as many attacks as he could with his staff, spinning it in his hand and whacking his venus fly trap arms as they come. Snakeweed got annoyed and wrapped his vines around the staff, stopping Donnie from fighting.

"Raph!" Donnie tried calling for help again, but Raph was petrified. Donnie had to think fast, he was on his own now.

"I'll crush you turtles into the ground." Snakeweed picked him up and tried to toss him again but Donnie quickly recovered and pulled his staff with him, weaving and rolling under and around the pipes before letting go of his staff. The staff got wedged between a pipe and the vines became entangled because of it. Snakeweed thrashed and screeched as he was immobilized.

"Raph!" Donnie ran to him, still frozen as he kneeled in place. Donnie grabbed his shoulders and shook him back to reality, "We don't have much time before he grows back. You grab Mikey and let's all get out of here."

Raph did as he was told and put Mikey's arm over his shoulder and pulled him up. Donnie picked up Hikari and threw her over his shoulder, then went over to help Raph with Mikey as they all escaped from the hideout.

What they didn't notice was Snakeweed shooting some pollen against their backs, all they could focus on getting out alive and the angered screams from the chamber. "I'm coming for you brats. You hear me? I'm coming for you!"

* * *

Leo knew when he wasn't wanted, and he certainly wasn't going to let Raph talk to him like that. Not when Raph didn't have to think through everything like he did to make sure everyone made it home safe. It was always easier to say I told you so. Well if Raph wanted to be the leader, then Leo hoped he was up for the challenge. Once he heard his brothers leave, he turned on the TV and watched some Space Heroes.

Leo never really understood the episode with Celestial until now. He wondered why Captain Ryan would be so upset over a girl who tried to hurt him, he had won after all. But after meeting Hikari, he could understand why he was so distraught that he'd keep her boots as a memento. Now he realized that this was the first time Captain Ryan's victory didn't feel like one. "Boy, relationships are complicated." He said aloud to himself.

Splinter came out of his room for a cheesesicle when he noticed Leonardo alone while the rest of the lair was silent, "Leonardo, where are your brothers and Hikari?"

"I have no idea."

This didn't sit well with Splinter, "What do you mean you have no idea?"

"Raph thinks he can lead the team better than me, so I let him." Leo waved his hand dismissively.

"That isn't your decision to make."

"Why not, sensei?" Leo stood up from his spot and turned to Splinter, "I've had to make every other decision and I'm tired of it. Those guys have no idea what kind of pressure I'm under and all they do is complain. Is it too much to ask for a simple thank you?"

"Of course." Splinter's cane came down with a loud thud, "Leadership isn't about being appreciated, it is about responsibility. It doesn't matter that the burden is heavy, it matters that you carry it. Now, go find your team."

Leo said nothing more and left for the surface, "What if I don't want the burden." He muttered under his breath before going over everything, "Where are those guys? Donnie said something about 47th and…"

"You always talk to yourself?" Karai's voice came from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and sure enough, she was there at the end of the alleyway.

"Sometimes I'm the only one who'll listen." He remarked.

"I'll listen," She said as she pulled her tanto out, "when you beg for your life."

Leo pulled out one of his katana, readying himself for another fight, "Let's see how well you can do against someone who can see."

"Let's see how well you can do against someone who's better than you." She quipped back.

Not wanting to be beaten, he stuttered a response, "Let's see how well you do against… Let's just go!"

The sounds of clashing metal reverberated through the alley as they both did the best to attack and parry, each calculating the other's moves before the next strike. Karai

"Juji-ken, interesting." Leo remarked as he went in for his own attack.

Hikari dodged his attack with ease and scoffed, "Kocho-giri. Predictable."

The two stopped their duel and she couldn't help but be impressed, "You're good. No wonder we haven't wiped you out yet."

"It's not like Shredder hasn't been trying."

"I know, it's all he ever talks about." She said in a light exasperated tone, "Revenge-revenge, vendetta-vendetta."

Leo was surprised to hear that kind of response from someone from the Foot Clan, "Really? I take it you don't approve?"

"No, I'm fine with it. I'm just saying, he needs a hobby." She changed her tactics, going to closer attacks with her sword and attacking his limbs with every step he took. She tripped him up, which he recovered with a roll. But that lined him up for a high kick to his face, he got back up and stared her down. She was getting more amusement from her opponent than she expected, "Not bad, but I've seen better."

"With one blade, maybe. Not with two." Leo smirked as he pulled out his other blade, crossing the two together in position. The two clashed again with Leo attacking first. He kept his blade close as he pushed Karai back with every slice at her, she just blocked each move before leaping up onto the fire escape above them.

As Leo jumped up after her, he continued the fight as he spoke, "You know what, I don't think you're as bad as you pretend to be."

"Oh, what part of swinging a sword at your head do you not understand?" She snorted as she attacked him from behind the ladder.

"On the rooftop. You could've finished me, but you didn't."

"Because… You're the first thing in this city that doesn't bore me." She pulled out some shuriken and threw them at Leo. He blocked them with his katana then again when she used the ladder to swing herself into a kick straight at him.

"Besides, I don't think you're as good as you pretend to be." She taunted as she faked an attack to his head, allowing her to push her blade towards his neck with only his katana keeping it away, "Don't tell me the goodie-three-toes thing doesn't wear thin after a while."

"Better than the alternative?" Leo's voice strained as he tried kept pushing at her tanto.

"Which is what? To have fun? To cut loose? To live your own life?" Leo growled as he slammed the hilt of his other katana into her side. It disoriented her enough to him to push her away and into the wall while Leo had the advantage. She smirked at the response she got, "Guess I struck a nerve."

"Because I beat you?" Leo mocked her.

Karai didn't respond to that. Instead, she sprang from her spot with her tanto in hand, the tip blade narrowly hovering above his head. He quickly moved away from her, but she was no longer interested in fighting.

"You see that high rise?" She pointed the blade at the Byerly building.

"Yeah?"

"Meet me there at midnight."

"Why?"

"I wanna show you something." She answered cryptically before jumping off the fire escape and into the shadows like the first time they met.

Leo was completely stunned by this girl. She was powerful, mysterious, and she was free. She was straight with Leo and didn't care about how he saw her. Honestly, it was kind of refreshing and he couldn't get her words out of her mind.

This was a girl situation, an actual human girl situation. He needed help so he went to the only one who could help him with this. He made it to April's apartment and tapped on her window. Her lights were off, so she was probably asleep. Normally Leo would feel bad about waking April up on a school night, but this was an emergency.

April soon opened the window, eyes still blurry from sleep, "Leo? This better be good."

"Hey, I need to talk."

"Can this wait till tomorrow?"

"It's about… a girl." Leo decided to keep it vague. It wasn't every day that one of them had girl issues, besides Donnie at least.

That got April's attention right away. She yanked him close with her face right at his, "Tell me everything."

Leo was a little surprised with how quick April changed her tone but he was dying to tell someone about her, "Well, she's really cool."

She nodded eagerly.

He continued, starting to feel a little shy, "She's also a martial artist."

She nodded again.

"And, uh she's in the Foot clan."

April was stupefied to hear the last part. She honestly thought Leo was coming to her for advice about Hikari but he clearly had his sights on another girl now, and not just any girl but a girl from his enemy clan. She grabbed the nearest thing she could get, a magazine, and smacked him in the face, "Are you crazy?"

Leo winced and rubbed his cheek, "Look, April. She's different. She's-"

"In the Foot clan." She cut him off.

"Yeah, but she's-"

"In the Foot clan!"

"Look, I know I shouldn't be hanging out with her."

"Yeah. You got that right. You know why? 'Cause she's in the Foot clan!" She shouted that part so loudly he was surprised half of New York hadn't wakened up from that.

"April, she's fun, and I'm tired of being the responsible one. When do I get to have any fun?" He asked exasperatedly

"What about Hikari? Isn't she fun too?"

He was a little shocked April would bring her up, but he was never that good at hiding his feelings for her from his brothers so it made sense that April caught on to it too. He sighed at the thought of Hikari and answered, "She's great… But I don't think I can be with her."

"You two really need to talk this out." She mumbled under her breath, "Anyways about this other girl, any idea what she wants from you?"

"I don't know. I'm meeting her later at the Byerly building, she's got something planned."

"Yeah, like pushing you off the Byerly building. It's a trap, Leo." She tried reasoning with him one last time.

"I don't think so." Leo shook his head, "There's good in her, I know there is. I can feel it."

"I hope you're right." April conceded. She knew she wasn't going to change his mind. After he left, she picked up her phone and shot a quick text to Donnie. If things were going to go south, she'd hoped Donnie and the others would be there to watch Leo's back.

* * *

"Help!" Splinter rushed out of his room in terror when he heard Raphael's panicked voice. The sight he saw he never wished to see again. Donatello had Hikari over his shoulder while he and Raphael were dragging Michelangelo into the lair. But the one thing he never expected to see was the clear distress Raphael was expressing. Although Leonardo was the collected one of the team, Raphael always hated showing fear and seeing it so blatantly meant that he must've been shaken to his core.

Splinter stepped in and took control of the situation, "Set him down."

He walked over to the group and took Michelangelo's arm off of Donatello, he helped Raphael carry Michelangelo to the couch before laying him down.

"Donnie, you can put me down now." Hikari said in a tired voice. He did as she asked and she was well enough to stagger over to the couch before slumping on it, "I just need a moment."

Splinter looked around and noticed that one was still missing, "Where is Leonardo?"

"I don't know." Raphael said before just breaking down and telling him everything, "Sensei, this is a disaster and it's all my fault. I don't know what happened, I just…froze up. I mean I have no problems risking my own life but risking my family's…"

Splinter listened to Raphael as he tended to Michelangelo, "Now you understand the price of leadership: responsibility."

Raphael looked away in shame, "Yeah…I hate it.

"So you understand Leonardo's burden."

He nodded seriously before turning to Hikari, "You were right not to trust me, I messed everything up."

Hikari seemed shocked then gave him a melancholic smile, "I guess you didn't hear the voicemail I left you. I wanted to apologize for making you believe I didn't trust you. Please never believe that, because I do. I trust all of you with my life and I hope you all will believe me when I tell you I'd give my own up to protect each and every one of you. My feelings for Leo did play a part, but never let that shellbrain of yours think that I won't be there to watch your back."

Raphael took her words to heart and had a look of determination, "We still need him back. _I_ need him back."

Splinter was pleased to see his children finally get along like before, "Then go get him"

Raphael's determination wavered a little, "But Sensei, I don't know where he is."

"He's going to the Byerly building." Donatello spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to him as he pulled out his phone, "April texted me. April texted _me_. This is the best day!"

He was then reminded of the present when he heard the pained groans of his wounded brother. He composed himself and said, "Well, I mean it's had its ups and downs."

Now with a location, Raphael prepared to head out, "Great, stay here with Mikey. I'll be right back."

Hikari stood up from her spot, "I'm coming too."

"You're still recovering."

"And you're not gonna win this." She said as she placed her arms on her hips, "Leo couldn't, what makes you think you can stop me?"

Splinter could tell Raphael was losing and he honestly felt better if neither of his children was heading up to the surface alone right now. Raphael conceded at the end, "Fine. But you better not pass out."

Hikari nodded and checked her weapons before heading out of the lair with Raph. Even if she was still recovering her energy, she had enough to hold her own and that had to do it. With Snakeweed out there, she couldn't risk anything happening to another of them. Once they got out of the sewers, they took straight to the rooftops where she followed him as they headed for the Byerly building.

"So, you have any idea what we're gonna say to him?" She asked.

Raph's silence wasn't inspiring confidence. Neither was his answer, "I'm… working on it."

She didn't respond to that. Instead, she let out a sigh and said, "We all really need to talk once this is over."

"April's advice?"

"Yup."

They kept moving until Raph pointed the skyscraper out, "There's the Byerly."

Hikari stopped Raph before they approached the building. They were still ninjas and she had enough common sense to check the area before going in. Donnie had given her a pair of binoculars to use, mainly because she was the only one with a face structure who could use it. She looked through it and spotted Leo's silhouette on top of the building, but she was surprised to see another one standing next to him.

"I think I see him, and someone else?" She reported as she put her binoculars down to see that she was now alone, "Raph?"

While Hikari was looking around, Raph took action and climbed up to the top of the Byerly building. He expected to see Leo moping around or fighting some enemies, not Leo with his arm twisted behind his shell by some random girl, "Leo! W-What are you doing? Who's she?"

Leo was not prepared for this and just awkwardly introduced the two in this uncomfortable position, "Ugh… Raph, Karai. Karai, Raph."

Hearing how casual Leo was acting just raised even more questions, "What are you, friends with her?"

At this time, Hikari jumped up onto the top with a lecture in mind, "Raph, for solars sake! Stop rushing into-" She cut herself off when she saw Leo pinned to the ground by some girl in a Foot clan uniform. She immediately pulled out her uni-weapon, bringing her arm back before sending the tail of her whip at the girl, "Get off him!"

Karai jumped away from the attack, letting Leo go as she examined her new opponent. "Ah, the little girlfriend. Shredder told me all about you." She taunted with a smile, "How's that wound healing?"

The girl with the whip charged at her with a new weapon, a glowing translucent blade that came from her arm. Like Leo, the girl's weapons intrigued her. She deflected the weapon with her tanto as the blades clashed. Karai was amused with the fire this girl had, Xever was right after all.

Leo and Raph watched the two girls fight wordlessly. Raph wasn't sure what to do and Leo was desperate to get some control back on this, "Hikari, stop!"

"What?" Hikari looked at him in disbelief. Karai took advantage and kicked Hikari in the stomach, knocking her back which earned her a glare from Raph and Hikari. Hikari said nothing more, picked herself off the ground and walked back over to Raph's side.

"Are you serious?" Raph shouted, "We're out there risking our lives and you're here holding hands with the Foot?!"

"I can explain!" Leo held his hands up, trying his best to calm his brother while avoiding the judgmental looks Hikari was giving him.

"This should be entertaining." Karai mused, happy to watch Leo squirm.

Leo was trying his best to explain himself out of this really awkward scenario, "You see, Karai and I share an appreciation for the fine craftsmanship of-"

The moment was interrupted when Snakeweed suddenly appeared from the side of the building, "I found you, brats!"

The three pulled their weapons out while Leo was relieved to stop talking, "Oh, thank goodness."

As they stand in formation, Raph looked over at Leo and said everything he needed to in the quickest way possible, "All's forgiven, you're the leader again. Welcome back."

Snakeweed started attacking the three again, now

"Leo, focus!" Hikari yelled out. However, Snakeweed knocked her down as she was distracted. It sent her uni-weapon tumbling over the edge of the building and she could do nothing but watch it fall over. "Come on!" She wailed in irritation as she stood back up and kept fighting the vines by cutting them with her energy blade.

But she still wasn't doing enough damage as vines wrapped around her arms, stretching her apart while she bit back cries of pain. Raph noticed Hikari doing her best not to have her joints pulled out of her sockets, and tried to cut her free. But Snakeweed was one step ahead by snapping Venus flytrap vines at him before trapping him in between one of them.

Leo was hanging onto the edge of a wall for dear life while his team was in danger. He looked to the one person who could save them and begged, "Karai! Karai, please! Help!"

Karai just stood there with a proud smile on her face. After watching Leo beg for her help like that, she figured it was only humane to put him out of his misery. She pulled out a knife and threw it forward.

Leo ducked his head when he saw a knife coming towards him, only for the knife to lodge itself just above his head. He turned to her once more as she left with the same cocky smile on her face, "Sayonara."

He knew what it was, just her weird way that she helped him when he needed it. He let go and grabbed the knife off the wall. As Snakeweed pulled Leo with his vines, he spun himself and sliced the vines pulling him with the knife in hand.

He then cut the vines pulling on Hikari's bladed arm, which allowed her to make a move and swing over to Raph. She quickly slashed the vine holding Raph in place before cutting her other arm free. With his team now free, he immediately resumed his role as leader, "Guys, follow me, I've got an idea."

"You're the boss." Raph said as he and Hikari both followed him off the building. Just as they reach the bottom, Hikari spotted her uni-weapon and snatched it back right before Snakeweed dropped down from the building.

Hikari bounced back to the turtles, "Now what?"

"We charge him." Leo said.

That caught Raph off guard, "Really?"

Leo looked at the two and nodded, "Trust me, let's move."

Hikari transformed her uni-weapon into a scythe and started hacking away at any vine that came at her and the others. Her body exerting herself much like when she fought the Kraang in the subway tunnel. She made cuts into Snakeweed's body but it never lasted long before the wound healed himself again.

Raph threw his sai at the gas tank in Snakeweed's jaw, causing the freezing agent to explode and turning him into ice. Raph jumped up with his other sai in hand, sharp tip pointing down as it slammed straight down Snakeweed from his head down and through his torso. Raph shouted Mikey's battle cry all the way through, "Booyakasha!"

"Alright!" Hikari cheered now that the battle was over. She pulled Raph into a quick hug before giving one to Leo too. She moved back when she realized what she was doing and her hands linger on Leo's shell before going back to her side.

Raph decided to be nice and save the two of them from their own stupidity. "Nice work." He said and nodded at Leo.

Leo snapped out of his sudden hug daze and smiled back at the two of them, "Thanks, good to be back."

Raph looked away and mumbled, "And uh… sorry."

"What did you say? I couldn't hear." Leo smirked as he cupped his hand by his ear.

Raph was getting ticked again but he did do it again… and this time he made sure Leo heard it. "I said… I'm **SORRY**!" Raph shouted the last part right into Leo's ear.

Leo jumped into the air before rubbing his poor battered ear, "Ugh, apology accepted."

"Kinda deserved that one." Hikari chuckled as she watched the two. She then walked to Raph and punched him in the shoulder with a cheeky smile, "I knew you had it in ya."

"Don't get used to it." Raph rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Uh-huh." Her smile only got bigger as she continued to tease him, "You know Splinter mentioned that compassion is a good thing to have, Raph."

"How are you worse than Mikey?"

"Where are Mikey and Donnie anyway?" Leo asked.

Bringing up Mikey brought their moods down and Leo was a little worried about how quick the shift was. Raph was the one who answered him, "Mikey got hurt earlier at Snakeweed's lair, he won't wake up. Donnie's there with him."

Leo went into protective big brother mode at the mention of one of them hurt, "How? What happened there?"

Hikari and Raph shared a look before Hikari just said, "It's a long story."

With the fight over, the three of them rushed back into the lair as Raph told Leo everything that happened during their earlier encounter with Snakeweed in the sewers. Leo started lecturing for not paying more attention and letting Snakeweed get close to her like that, but she took everything in with a pep in her step. At this point, the stern but fond lecturing was a breath of fresh air compared to all the drama they went through.

Once they got back, Leo took one look at Mikey before shaking his head with exasperation. He went to the fridge and got a slice of leftover pizza, hovering the pizza right over Mikey's face. Hikari could see Mikey's beak twitch before he muttered, "Pepperoni…"

"Works every time." Leo said with pride, Mikey rose from his sleep as he pulled the pizza away.

Raph pushed his brothers aside and hugged Mikey tight, "Mikey! Don't scare me like that, buddy. I thought we lost ya."

Mikey yawned and rubbed his eyes like he was just waking up from a nap, "Dudes, I had the weirdest dream. I dreamt the stuff in the sewer was made out of-"

Donnie was quick to cut him off and dismiss it, "Eh, forget about it, Mikey. It was just a dream."

"Oh." Mikey nodded as he started noticing the soreness around his head.

Raph and Leo stepped away together while Hikari now took Raph's spot by Mikey's side. Donnie saw this and mused, "Where are those two going?"

"Let them go. They've got a lot to talk about." Hikari said and petted Mikey's head, "How you doing, Mikey?"

"Still tired." He mumbled as he relaxed under her touch.

"Let Donnie check to see if you have a concussion first." Hikari got off the couch to let Donnie do his job, "I'll try and make your pizza noodle soup."

"Don't burn the kitchen down." Mikey cried out only half-jokingly. Even if she was the better cook out of his brothers, that wasn't a very high standard and he didn't want to wake up to smoke or a scorched kitchen.

Meanwhile, Raph pulled Leo aside to talk about what happened tonight, "So, what's with the girl who tried to kill you?"

"She didn't try to kill me." Leo corrected, "She saved me."

Raph was not impressed, "She threw a knife at your head."

"She threw a knife _near_ my head." Leo clarified as he brandished said knife in his hand.

"She's in the Foot clan." Raph pointed out.

Leo shrugged, "Nobody's perfect."

"What about Hikari?" Raph asked.

"What about her?" Leo wasn't expecting him to bring her up like that.

"After all this, you're just gonna give up on her and move onto the next girl?"

Leo swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth and responded, "What does it matter? She's in good hands and this way we won't end up fighting."

"Fighting? What the heck are you talking about?" Raph was completely baffled until he started connecting the dots and understood what Leo was implying. His face went pale at the idea, "Don't tell me ya think she and I are… I think I'm gonna be sick."

Raph wanting to throw up was the last reaction Leo anticipated. "Well, what was I supposed to think?"

"That she's my little sister." He answered sharply.

"You two spend nights out in the city in secret."

"Because she wanted privacy and alone time. She lives in an underground lair with 5 mutant ninjas and 4 of them happen to be wild teenagers." He seethed with his voice down low, "I'm only gonna say it once otherwise I'm gonna hurl, _I don't like her that way_."

"But what if-"

Leo's question was cut off as Raph put his hand up and said, "Look, whatever happened in the past doesn't matter now. We aren't them and Hikari sure ain't Teng Shen. Frankly, I'd be furious if I learned that two idiots decided everything without me."

Leo was thrown into a loop. The nature of Raph and Hikari's relationship was something he couldn't ignore. There wasn't a sense of relief or hope now that he knew the truth, it didn't go away and it still weighed on his mind. Knowing that there was nothing going on between them just complicated things more for him, at least Leo knew she'd be happy with someone who he knew and trusted. He was still interested in Karai but he couldn't ignore the feelings he had for Hikari. He knew Hikari still liked him, the peck she gave him during their last fight with the Kraang was proof of that.

Leo decided to head back to his room, looking at Karai's knife in his hand as he wondered what the right choice would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, Karai has entered the picture and Leo is more confused than ever. Now that everything was out in the open, the ball is in Leo's court XD
> 
> I both love and hate this chapter. I love it for the amount of growth Hikari, Raph, and Leo go through. But you all know how I feel about action scenes and writing Leo and Karai's fight was definitely fun...
> 
> I have also started a one-shot series called Between the Pages where I get to write more of the wacky and slice of life stories about Hikari and the turtles. Check it out if you can.
> 
> Happy 2020 to you all, here's to a new year with new possibilities :)


	15. The Alien Agenda

Leo's life had been gotten really complicated lately. Ever since their 15th mutation day, he and his brothers had been thrown into a world where they were no longer the weirdest things they know, a whole new view with new feelings to boot. The idea of being with someone romantically never came to mind until Donnie had his love-at-first-sight moment with April, then when he had his own when he rescued Hikari. Now he had two girls on his mind and he wasn't sure his heart knew what to do anymore.

Even now in the middle of a battle with the Kraang, Leo's focus was shifted when he noticed a presence above them and saw Karai watching them from the top of the building. He smirked at that, it was thrilling to know he had her full attention and he wanted to show her what he could do. He immediately sprinted to the closest Kraangdroid, landing a jump-kick on its chest and slicing the blaster in its hands in half. Leo then got in between Raph and the Kraangdroid he was fighting. "I'll save you, Raph." Leo said confidently as he slashed the robot's torso in half.

"You don't save-" Raph sputtered out before noticing how flashy Leo's fighting was, doing flips and jumping off walls when he really didn't need to. After kicking another Kraang bot down, he jumped onto the shoulders of the Kraang Mikey was fighting.

"Relax, Mikey. You're safe now." He said as he did a quick backflip and sent his katanas down onto the shoulders of the robot, splitting the arms from its torso as it dropped down lifelessly.

"Thanks!" Mikey said before realizing, "Wait, I was fine…"

Raph was unimpressed but he couldn't figure out why Leo was suddenly acting like this. Meanwhile, Leo snuck a glance over and felt a rush of adrenaline when he saw her eyes on him. He made it over to Donnie, who was busy taking care of two Kraangdroids at once, and shouted, "Donnie, behind you!"

While Donnie turned to look at the wall behind him, Leo thought it was a great time to show off his speed as he swung his katana into the heads of both Kraangdroids before Donnie turned back. Before Donnie could say a word, Leo leaped away and used a few extra backflips to Hikari's fight.

She was using her shield to block the gunfire as she spun around with her whip in hand, sending the whip through the arms or blasters. She had her foot back and her arm behind her, ready to send the whip flying again, when she saw two katana blades bursting through the chests of the two Kraang shooting at her.

"Don't be scared. I'm here." Leo said with his plastron puffed outwards. Hikari recognized that tone, it was the same one he used whenever he was mimicking Captain Ryan. She was confused with Leo's sudden personality change, he stopped doing the hero voice a while back after all, until she looked upwards and noticed Karai in the shadows watching them. It all made sense to her then.

Leo was about to take out a Kraangdroid that was charging at Hikari from the side when the Kraangdroid stopped and spazzed before dropping down by her feet. The android body collapsed to reveal Hikari had already taken care of it by stabbing the Kraang brain and pulling it out of the suit with her energy blade.

"I got it, Leo." She kept her face neutral as she deactivated her blade, the dead brain landing on the ground with a wet squish.

That didn't stop Leo's showboating as he jumped back into a cartwheel before sheathing his katanas and striking a pose, but not before getting another peek at Karai. Raph noticed Leo's glances and followed it to see Karai just as she was leaving. Now that he knew, to say he was annoyed by Leo's posturing was a damn understatement.

"Uhh… What the heck was that?" Donnie was as confused as Raph first was when Leo jumped in to 'save him'

Mikey, on the other hand, was thoroughly impressed by Leo's moves, "Yeah, were you trying to impress us? Because it totally worked!"

Donnie was perplexed when he didn't hear Raph say anything and only had a pensive look on his face, "What is it, Raph?"

"I thought I saw something." Raph noticed Hikari averting her eyes, then stepped towards Leo, "What about you, Leo? Did you see something?"

"No." Leo answered defensively.

Raph wasn't satisfied with that answer, "Turtles first, right?"

"Turtles first." Leo answered cryptically.

Mikey was getting uncomfortable between his big brothers, it reminded him of the tension they had even Leo first made Raph leader. He made his way back to Hikari and Donnie, Hikari looked like she was hiding something again while Donnie who was just as clueless and uncomfortable as he was.

"Do you feel like we're missing something?" Donnie asked.

"All the time." Mikey answered.

Hikari had enough. The last place she wanted them all to talk about this was out in the open after encountering some of their biggest enemies. "Break it up, you two. Let's head back. I don't like standing out here longer than I have to."

* * *

The fight last night didn't really help them understand what the Kraang were doing there. But one could only hope that tonight's patrol would give them more answers.

After their morning practice, Hikari was in her room looking through the shelf of learning material Donnie had given her. Today was her lesson on Earth culture so she was going to pick out a tape to watch. She made her choice and walked out of her room to see April doing her homework but Donnie with his hand over Mikey's mouth. She was confused, but this wasn't something new, "What are you doing?"

Mikey pulled his beak away from Donnie and explained, "April's putting her spit into a tube for school. It's so cool."

Hikari responded halfheartedly, "Mikey, we're learning ninjutsu from one of the greatest masters ever and fighting evil alien brains. I think our lives beat spit in a tube for coolness."

"It's not about spit. It's about the DNA." April said.

Mikey looked lost so Donnie did his best to explain, "DNA. Genetic code. You know? The Building blocks of life? Ok, DNA is a microscopic blueprint that tells everything living thing what to grow into and- Why am I still talking to you?"

Mikey playfully shrugged, "I don't know. You think you'd have learned by now."

April ignored the two and continued explaining the assignment, "Everyone in our class is sending a DNA sample to this research group, The Worldwide Genome Project. Then, they'll send back a report that tells us all about our ancestors. Neat, huh?"

Mikey nodded along like he cared about this project April was talking about. But then he was still interested in the idea. "Man, I wish I could go to school." He said wistfully.

"If normal Earth schools are anything like the movies, I wouldn't wish for it." She sat down on the couch with her legs crossed, "They don't even have training courses what I had for classes."

"It's not fun. I'd train with Splinter for six hours a day if it meant I didn't have to sit through pre-cal." April grumbled as she turned her eyes back to her laptop.

"Ok, let's not get too crazy here." Hikari laughed before waving the VHS tape at Donnie, "I picked our lesson today, Donnie."

Mikey saw the tape in her hands and immediately started whining, "Aww man, is Donnie making you watch those boring tapes again?"

"Nature and travel documentaries are a great way to learn about Earth." She said as she jumped off the couch and popped the tape into the VHS machine, "You could watch one of them with me."

"No thanks, I still see them in my nightmares."

"Is this how he's teaching you?" April asked.

"Donnie thought it'd be better if I choose where I want to learn about." Hikari sat back down on the couch and Donnie joined her with his laptop, "We're still making our way through North America."

Hikari watched as a nature documentary about the volcanoes around Hawaii started playing. Donnie would stop and fill in extra details or give more in-depth explanations about the documentary. She was well informed about the subject once the video was over, but she was far more interested every time the camera would do a wide shot of the islands themselves.

She already knew what she wanted Donnie to teach her about next.

* * *

Leo was getting tired of waiting. After his conversation with Raph, he could understand where Raph was coming from, but he knew that there was good in Karai. She could be good if she got the help she needed and Leo was going to be the one to do it.

Sure enough, he heard a noise behind him. He pulled out his katanas, but he couldn't even act surprised when he saw her crouching, "How'd I know you'd show up?"

"Like you're not good at hiding from me?" She replied.

"Like last night."

"Oh, were you there? I didn't notice." She said coyly, "I did see a bunch of robots though, what's their deal?"

"Their deal is that they're incredibly dangerous." Leo warned her with a katana pointed at her direction, "Stay away from them."

"I like them already." Her voice changed from amused to serious, "Something else is going on, what is it?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you anymore. Raphael says I can't trust you." He said with apprehension.

"He makes a good point." She dropped down from the water tank she was on, "Eventually I _am_ going to destroy you."

She pulled her tanto out and started fighting with Leo once more. They were moving much faster now that they had experience fighting each other.

"I don't think you are." He said, his blade stopping hers as it slid off the edge.

"Really? And what do you think _this_ is?" She asked as she twirled the sword in her hand. She swung her blade at him as they both maneuvered along the ledge of the building. Though it didn't stop her from using jumps and kicks to try and knock him down.

"I think it's a cry for help." He answered, "I think you're looking for a way out of the Foot clan, and I can help you."

Karai laughed at his naivety, "You're adorable. Stupid, but adorable."

That caught Leo off guard as his heart started beating a little faster, "R-Really? Y-You think I'm ador-" The moment was shattered when Karai's blade started charging at him with her blade near his face, "Ah!"

Karai took the opportunity to jump away, putting distance between herself and Leo. But Leo wasn't finished talking yet. He chased her down and stood with his katana out, "You wanna play games? I can handle it. But I need your word that you will not attack my team."

"You know I can't do that." She rushed at him once more and their blades clashed.

But this time, Leo wasn't playing around. He looked Karai in the eye and said, "Then, understand this. If you come after them, I'll come after you. Hear me?"

Karai had heard enough. She let the two blades slide off each other as she cartwheeled away to the edge of the building. She removed her mask and gave him a flirtatious smile, "Loud and clear."

Watching Karai leave like that was giving him a lot of mixed messages, but he at least got his message through. He looked at the time on his T-Phone and decided to go back before the others found out he was gone.

* * *

Hikari was sitting in the kitchen after morning practice for her daily lesson. Thanks to the documentary they watched yesterday, she already decided she wanted to learn more about Hawaii and the beautiful beaches she saw.

"Alright, that concludes today's lesson on geography." Donnie closed the Atlas they were using. He did notice how much she was paying attention to him during their lesson. As curious as she was about the Earth, there were only a handful of things that got her as excited as she was now.

She opened the Atlas back to a page with a large photo of a beach, "I think this is my favorite. It's a shame we can't actually go."

"I'm sure April and her friends could take you to a beach and-"

She cut him off with a fond smile, "Donnie, it's not gonna be the same if I went along with April and some random group of humans. It's nice to dream though."

"Yeah…" Donnie sighed wistfully, "Actually, I could use your help with something."

She perked up, "Sure, you need help with the cannon again?"

"Not that, it's about April."

"Oh." She deflated and gave him a self-deprecating look, "Donnie, I'm sure you've noticed but I'm not the best person to come to about relationships."

"But you are really close with April. I have to know, do you think I have a shot?"

"It's funny, I asked the same thing before I confessed to Leo. All I can tell you is that you'll never know until you tell her. I do think April has a soft spot for you and maybe you could talk to her about it after everything with the Kraang and her dad calms down."

Donnie dropped his head onto the counter dejected, "You're probably right. Thanks for being honest with me."

"Gotta start somewhere." She looked down at her lap.

"How are things going with Leo?"

"I haven't really talked to him. I feel like I have a lot to make up for. But I do hope we could be as close as we used to be, even if we never became anything more."

"Do… you ever regret telling him?" Donnie asked hesitantly.

She paused to think for a moment, "In a way, yes. I only wished we were in a better place when I confessed. Knowing what I know, I understand why you don't want to tell April. But sitting here right now, I can't say I regret telling him at all. I don't know if I'll ever stop caring for him the way I do, and I owed it to myself to give it a chance. Whatever happens, I know I'll always be by his side."

"What if he finds someone else?"

"Donnie, as much as you want to, you can't plan for her choice. Maybe she will find some human who she'd be with. But nothing between you two will change if April never knows, you just need to figure out if you're OK with that." She stood up from her seat just as they heard Mikey approaching the kitchen, "Mikey asked me to help with lunch, so just a heads up."

Donnie and Hikari both dropped the relationship gossip as the three brothers entered the kitchen. Hikari stood by the others as Mikey went through the fridge, "Alright, what do you guys want? Omelet pizza or pizza omelet?"

"What's the difference?" Raph asked skeptically.

"Ok, you caught my bluff." Mikey said as he pulled a bowl of eggs out of the fridge.

Leo turned to Hikari, "Can you get better at cooking faster?"

"Last I check, there's a reason you're banned from the kitchen." She shot back just as she heard her T-Phone ringing.

Donnie pulled his T-Phone out too and didn't know what to make of what he read, "Hey, did you all just get a mass text for April."

"Yeah."

"Yup."

"Mhmm"

"Well does yours also say she's being attacked by an old lady?" He continued to question.

"Yup."

"Sure does."

"Apparently."

"Is that considered an emergency?"

"I guess." Leo said, the realization sunk in and they immediately jumped into action, "Let's go!"

* * *

They had to be extra careful since they were going upside during the day. They sent Hikari up first to as lookout. She did a quick scan around the front of the school, the roads and the near-empty parking lot before heading back to the alley they were hiding in. "Coast is clear, guys. Kids are gone." She reported.

With that, they all entered the school through the front door since any threat would be coming from there. They were on the lookout for this old lady who was attacking April while Mikey was too busy awing over the building itself, "Sweet, so this is what school is like…"

They walked into the main hall when they triggered something to make a loud warning beeping alarm. Raph stabbed the machines making the noise, causing it to turn off. However, they heard footsteps coming their way and acted accordingly. "Quick, hide!" Leo whispered as they all hid away from the incomer's line of sight.

The footsteps were coming from an older looking lady, but she looked proper and formal. Hikari had to guess she was one of the teachers working here. They called each other on the T-Phones to continue communicating.

"I don't see any threat, old lady or not." Hikari said.

Raph, who was hanging off a sculptor on the ceiling, looked around and didn't see anything either, "Ok, I feel stupid."

Leo wasn't happy to hear that they put themselves at risk like that for nothing, "April's gotta learn that calling our T-Phones like that is for emergencies only."

The teacher must've heard them because she spun her head around unnaturally as her eyes turned red. She started twitching sporadically and stammering, "A-Ap-April O'Neil."

"Aww sewer bunnies." Raph muttered as he dropped down and stood with the others.

. Her arms folded back from her elbows, revealing them as cannons as she shot missiles out towards them. They immediately ducked and jumped out of the way, but the blast was enough to knock them off their feet. They all fell onto the steps as Mikey turned to Leo, "Leo, I think this counts as-"

"An emergency! I know!" Leo groaned.

They heard a loud screech as she leaped into the air and came falling down at Mikey and Leo at full force. They moved out of the way as she crushed the handrail and the section of the stairs the two were on. Raph went straight at her with his sai, but she put her hand up and let the sai stab right through her palm. She spun her wrist around, and Raph along with it before tossing him onto the trophy case. Raph managed to maneuver in the air so he landed on top of the case instead, but she then started throwing metal sheets at him. Hikari moved in by using her whip to restrain her arm. The robot turned her sights at Hikari as she shot a missile at her, forcing Hikari to deactivate her whip and dodge the shot.

That bought Raph enough time to jump onto the structure he was on earlier and cut the rope holding it. The heavy sculpture fell straight at the robot but she quickly leaped away, getting down on all fours before standing up to face the team again as they all regrouped.

"Alright guys, let's put old Mother Hubbert back in her cupboard." Leo said with pride that shouldn't exist with a phrase like that. Mikey did a facepalm and groaned while Donnie dropped his head in shame for his brother.

Raph just shook his head and said, "Dude, it literally hurts to listen to you sometimes."

"I miss this." Hikari was giggling at it all as her whip transformed into another shield.

The robot launched another set of missiles at them, but they were ready this time. Raph threw some shurikens at them and detonated them before they got close to the team. Hikari moved forward to shield them from the shockwave as Donnie and Leo moved from the side and jumped at the robot with blades out, cleaving her missile arms off her shoulders and detaching the metal mask acting as her face.

She started spazzing with her circuits exposed. Leo saw this and called out, "Mikey! The water fountain!"

"I know, this school has everything." Mikey said as he marveled at it.

"No! I mean spray her with it!"

"Oh yeah." Mikey blinked before doing as Leo said. The water hit the circuits on the robot's face, causing it to short out and collapse onto the ground like a dead weight.

Now that the battle was over, Donnie started searching for the reason they came here for, "April? Where are you?"

Hearing Donnie calling out for her, April came out of the janitor closet she was hiding in. She walked over to the dead robot and gave it a swift kick in the head, "And stay down!" She shouted as if that was the finishing blow. She then turned to the team with gratitude, "Thank you, guys."

Donnie opened his arms up for a hug, but when April didn't move in, Donnie awkwardly raised his hand up and rubbed her head like a bad imitation of what Hikari did with Mikey. "You are so welcome." Donnie said nervously before holding himself together with a forced smile.

Hikari sighed at Donnie's awful attempts on April. She could tell he was sincere, but he was really trying too hard for his own good. April moved to get a closer look at the woman who attacked her, "So, what the heck is that thing?"

"It's Kraang technology for sure." Hikari said, "But I don't think there's nothing inside controlling her."

"She said she was from the World Genome Project." April informed.

"Woah, how did the Kraang know that you sent your DNA spit to the Worldwide thingamajig Project?" Mikey asked with a slightly muffled voice. Hikari was perplexed to hear his voice like that until she saw that Mikey gave that metal mask a try on himself. Raph definitely wasn't happy when he turned around and let out a cry after seeing the robot's face. Hikari chuckled as the two started fighting, but she turned her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"The Kraang must've hacked into their system." Donnie deduced, "Who knows what kind of info they could be stealing?"

"April, you better head to the lair where it's safe." Leo instructed her, "We'll go check out the Worldwide Genome Project."

"But first, we gotta take down the Eastside Panthers!" Everyone looked over at Mikey in confusion. He pointed to the poster and explained, "At least, that's what this poster says."

"I'll take April to the lair in case any Kraang show up, you guys head over and I'll meet you there." Hikari stepped forward.

Leo nodded, "Keep your T-Phone on. Let us know if any of them are coming after you."

She smiled as she and April headed over to the nearest manhole cover and dropped into the sewers. April saw the two interacting and was curious about what happened, "So, you and Leo were getting along better. You two talk it out?"

"Not yet, things were a little crazy that night."

April bit her lip, unsure at first if she should tell Hikari about that night but deciding to do so for Hikari's sake, "Leo came to talk to me after you left."

"I know, did he tell you about the girl he met?"

"He mentioned her but not by name."

"Her name is Karai, I fought her on the Byerly when I thought she had him pinned down. Turns out they were closer than we thought."

"What are you going to do?"

Hikari stopped right outside of the lair as she turned to face April, "What do you mean?"

"You and Leo, you've been dancing around this relationship since you two saw each other. Are you really going to let some Foot clan girl seduce him?"

"This isn't about what I want. Living with the guys teaches you a lot about them, they had a pretty unfair life and it hasn't been easy for them. They are content with their lives, but they never really had a choice in any of this. The least they deserve, especially Leo, was to choose whoever they want to be with. If he chooses her, then I'll do my best to protect him as his teammate and his friend." Hikari ended the topic there, "Go inside and let Splinter know. We'll be back soon."

Hikari headed for the location they sent her, dropping in as they stood around waiting for her. Raph couldn't help but remark, "Finally, we were wondering how long your girl talks usually take."

"Not as long as your showers." She shot back and turned to the others, "So, how are we breaking in?"

"Leave it to me, I have an app for that." Donnie stepped forward with his phone out. He could hear his team groaning behind him, but he was ready to prove that technology was a far better method than brute force. He plugged his T-Phone into the panel and started hacking into it.

But before he could get any good leeway into it, Hikari was next to his and pulled the wire connecting his phone to the door. "Let me try." She said as she put her hand into the panel, an aura of white light appeared around her hand as the panel started sizzling and smoking like the robot earlier. She relaxed and the light around her hand disappeared, she opened the door with flair and a proud smile on her face.

"Dang, you're getting good at this." Mikey awed.

"Thanks." Hikari petted his head appreciatively.

Leo was impressed by how far her control has come, but they still had a mission to do. "Let's go." He said as they all snuck into the building.

What they all missed was Karai watching from the moment the turtles showed up. After witnessing the girl's hand glow, Karai knew she had to learn more about these aliens and this girl.

* * *

The team was moving down the dark corridor with a sense of unease. It felt too familiar and Mikey was the one to point it out, "You know for a human lab, this place is awfully Kraang-y."

"Tell me about it, I'm getting the same feeling I do from one of their bigger bases." Hikari said.

After hearing that, Leo figured it out, "Guys, I think the Kraang _are_ the Worldwide Genome Project."

Now that they had an idea of what they were getting themselves into, the team snuck into the central room where two Kraangdroids were standing guard. They got into position as Mikey crept right behind them as they turned around, "Booyakasha…"

As the Kraang pointed their blasters at Mikey, Donnie jumped up behind them and smashed the metal heads with his staff. They threw them behind a glass pane just because the Kraang brains eject from their suits and sticking themselves onto the glass.

"Now you two play nice in there." Raph remarked while the others looked around the room.

"What are those?" Leo asked about the many chambers built into the wall with mysteriously color-coded liquids inside them. Each of them had a picture of an animal with information written on every label.

"Well it looks like they're collecting DNA from every plant and animal species on Earth." Donnie stated.

"What?" Leo asked in confusion.

"Building blocks, dude." Mikey scoffed with a cocky smile, "I'll drop the science on you later."

"I'm surprised you listened to Donnie at all earlier." Hikari said.

"I wonder what they're doing with all this DNA." Donnie pondered as he scanned the room.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Leo declared, "Let's shut this place down."

Just as they were about to do so, Donnie noticed that one of them was missing, "Hey, where's Raph?"

"Got ya!" They heard Raph's voice from above. They all looked up to see him holding down Karai

"Karai?" Leo sputtered in disbelief.

"Ka-who?" Donnie questioned, completely clueless about this girl both Leo and Raph seemed to know.

Raph kept his focus on Karai as he pushed her down, "Bet you're pretty slick."

Karai was one step ahead once again as she twisted his arm and flipped herself on top, her foot pinning Raph down instead, "I have my moments."

Raph was furious, spin-kicking before charging at her with his sais. The two of them started fighting and chasing each other around the mutagen container. Leo, on the other hand, was trying to control the situation, "Raph, Karai, stop it!"

Donnie had enough of not knowing and blew up, "Ok, what the heck is going on here? How do they know her?"

"Yeah, and how do we know her?" Mikey glanced at Donnie, "Wait, do we know her?"

"Ask Leo about it later." She answered absently, keeping a close eye on Raph as the two fought.

Karai noticed the glass chamber and the mutagen inside. Curious, she started asking questions again, "So, this is the stuff that turns people into monsters, huh? How does it work?"

"Why don't you lean in a little closer and I'll show ya?" Raph taunted as he had her arms pushed up against his sais. She ducked and kicked one of his knees, making Raph's leg go slack with pain as he kneeled down. Karai was about to run her knife into Raph's head but her arm was halted by a glowing whip wrapped around her wrist.

"Watch it." Hikari said as she glared at Karai. She pulled her whip towards her, forcing Karai away from Raph. Karai moved along with the whip but her graceful movements and the backflip made it clear that it wasn't by force.

"Nice trick." Karai smirked and sent a high kick to the arm holding the whip. Hikari moved away as the whip dissipated. Karai stared down her opponent as Hikari turned her uni-weapon into a bo staff.

Raph tried to step in but Hikari stopped him, "Leave it, she's mine."

With the close distance, Hikari tried to jab her staff into her chest to knock her over. But Karai countered by using her tanto to push the staff downwards and pin it under her foot. Hikari snarled as she then deactivated her staff and delivering a kick at Karai's head. The disappearing staff was enough to catch her off guard and Karai barely managed to block the incoming kick.

Hikari used her right arm to pin Karai to the glass behind her and had her energy blade pointed at her face, "First Xever and Bradford, and now you. Can't any of you see the bigger picture here?"

"Nope. But I'll let you enlighten me after I cut your head off." Karai headbutted her before sweeping her legs, causing her to fall off the platform. Hikari landed on the ground with a sore back but she didn't have time to blink before rolling over to avoid the blade coming down at her. The tanto let out a loud clang as it hit the concrete. The two girls shot death glares at each other as they charged at each other with their weapons.

Leo quickly intervened by standing between the two with his katana stopping their weapons. "Enough! You're gonna set off-" He stumbled backward as he pushed the two away, his hand accidentally hitting an alarm on the panel behind him. He just sighed in defeat, "-one of those."

"Nice going, Leo. You're protecting her?" Raph confronted him.

"Just like that night on the Byerly." Hikari shook her head in disappointment, "Please tell me you didn't know she was here tonight."

"What? No!" He insisted.

Raph continued to tear into him, "What is wrong with you? Can't you see she's bad news?"

"No, she's not!" Leo came to Karai's defense.

"Yes, I am." She responded honestly.

Before they could continue, the Kraang showed up armed and in numbers. The team froze as the room filled with Kraangdroids around and above them. "The ones who are not authorized by the authority of Kraang to exist in this place will now be destroyed by Kraang." One of the Kraangdroid said.

"This day just keeps getting better." Karai mused.

"Great…" Hikari muttered as her whip appeared in her hand.

As the Kraang started fighting at them, the team along with Karai moved and took as many down as they could. Seeing Hikari fighting with them, Leo couldn't help but point it out, "See? She's on our side."

Raph punched a Kraangdroid before asking him in disbelief, "Are you even listening to yourself?"

"I like your brother and partner, Leo." Karai remarked as she sliced through three Kraangdroids, "They're almost as entertaining as you."

"Oh, when this is over, I'll show you how entertaining I can be." Raph sneered with a robot hand still impaled on one of his sais.

"Make that for two." Hikari quipped as her whip tore through another robot.

Just when it felt like they were making progress, more Kraang started marching into the room with a giant laser cannon, "Kraang is now arriving to provide the help that has been requested by Kraang, Kraang has also come to capture the Lightfury that is with the ones known as the turtles." Hikari shuddered internally as she recognized the guns they were carrying.

"We're trapped!" Leo exclaimed.

"No, you're trapped." Karai pointed out, leaning casually over the panel with her finger hovering over a button, "What happens if I do this?"

"No!" Raph shouted.

"Don't do that!" Leo cried out.

"Highly undesirable outcome." A Kraangdroid chimed in.

"Well, now I gotta." She pushed the button and watched it all unfold. The team stared in horror as the colored fluid from each chamber was being up a tube and all meeting in the center. Every DNA sample the Kraang had in the room was being dumped into the giant vat of mutagen and the reaction was instantaneous. There was an eerily glow as green smoke started spilling into the room. Some of the Kraang near them disappeared beneath the green fog and everyone was on edge. Neither of them knew what to expect coming out of that green ooze, but a giant octopus creature with big eyes and cat vocals were not what they had in mind.

"Aww, it's so cute." Mikey cooed and Hikari couldn't help but agree.

"Huh, I was honestly expecting-" The creature then started to roar at them and swing its tentacle around, making Hikari immediately retract her statement, "Never mind."

"Woah, that is wicked." Karai commented.

"How the heck am I going to name this?" Mikey gestured to the giant creature attacking the Kraang.

"Good question." Karai said as she noticed a gun on the ground she hadn't seen before. It was different from the ones the Kraang were using earlier.

She picked it up and Hikari immediately stopped her, "Don't you dare!"

Karai reacted and pulled the trigger at her. To Karai's surprise, a beam came out of the gun and hit Hikari in the chest. The beam was then pulling some white energy from her chest and into the gun. "Ahhhh!" Hikari cried out in pain as she collapsed to her knees and huddled herself into a ball.

"Hikari!" Leo pushed the gun away, making Karai let go of the trigger and knocking it onto the ground. Hikari didn't move at all, she was still shaking and breathing erratically. Leo saw this and called out to his brothers, "Guys!"

"What's she doing?" Raph asked but not really approaching her. He never saw Hikari break down like this before.

"I think she's re-experiencing the attack on her ship." Donnie suggested, trying to get closer to her but he was forced back with the fight still going.

"Looks like she needs your help." Karai supplied as she picked up the gun Leo knocked out of her hands, "Well, see ya."

Before they could stop her, she jumped up onto the platform above and opened the door. Leo yelled out to her, "Wait, you're not gonna help us? This is all your fault!"

"I'll let the heroes handle it." She shrugged and put the gun over her shoulder.

"I-I _trusted_ you!" He cried out.

"I know! That's messed up, right?" With that, she left the building. Leo was still shocked by Karai's actions while his brothers were completely unimpressed by it all.

"So guys, we all fans of Karai yet?" Raph asked.

"I don't know who she is, but I know I hate her!" Donnie yelled angrily.

Between the creature and the Kraang, neither turtle could stay in place for too long. But that also meant that Hikari was in big danger if they couldn't snap her out of it. "Keep the Kraang away from us, I'll see if I can get through to her." Leo commanded as they all acted in unison.

As the Kraang started turning their artillery towards the creature, Raph couldn't help himself, "Hey, look Leo. The Kraang are on our side now."

"Save it." Leo gritted his teeth as he made his way to her. She was still trying to fold into herself, her normally focused silver eyes were now dilated and distant. Leo wasn't sure if he should touch her so he did his best to calm his voice and reached out to her, "Hikari, you need to come back."

"…Leo?" Hikari answered in a small shaky voice. Her eyes were still unfocused, but he managed to get through to her.

"Whatever you're seeing on your ship isn't real. You're on Earth now, remember? You're with us."

Her figure stopped shaking as much as she unfolded herself into a kneeling position. She looked up at Leo with the same eyes she had when he first found her. "Leo, I…" Hikari started before they saw Mikey smacked into the glass behind him after dubbing the creature Justin.

They watched in horror as Raph got slammed onto the ground by Justin and Donnie was electrocuted by his electric eyes. Leo was paralyzed as he saw his brothers fall one by one and Hikari shrinking back into her panicked state, all because he chose Karai over them.

"Raph is right, this is my fault" Leo turned to Hikari, "Stay here."

"Ok…" Hikari listened, still trying to work her way through her panic.

With his team down, Leo faced Justin head-on. The creature roared at him and he matched his shout in anger. Leo ran at him, dodging his electric laser eyes while trying to cut him down. Leo tried striking in different areas and knocked him around, but nothing did any real damage. Leo spotted the control panel and got an idea.

"Hey, Justin!" He called out with his katana pointing at Justin's face, "This ends now!"

Justin took the bait and shot a blast of electricity at him. Leo caught the blast with his katana and joined his other by the hilt. With a loud yell, he stabbed the joint katanas into the console, sending Justin's energy into the panel and overloading it. The console exploded, burning Justin with a green flame as he cried out in pain and smashed his way out of the room.

"Take that, Justin!" Mikey shouted. The victory was shortlived as the building crumbled around them.

"Come on, let's get outta here!" Leo helped Hikari to her feet and they all made it out of the building.

They didn't stop moving until they were about two blocks away from the burning building. After getting far enough away from the crime scene, they stopped to catch their breaths. Donnie had a few questions but the biggest one was about the gun, "That beam, was it-"

"Yeah…" Hikari nodded numbly, "It was only a matter of time they'd start carrying them around."

Donnie then turned his attention to his two older brothers, "So… Does anyone else have something they wanna say?"

Raph shot a look at Leo and Leo slumped down in defeat, "Let's go home, I'll tell you everything."

* * *

Karai ran back with the gun straight to Shredder's lair. She learned far more than she thought she would, plus she had something worthwhile to show Shredder after he ignored her claims about the Kraang.

The moment she entered the throne room, she walked down and placed the gun onto the ground as she kneeled on one knee in front of Shredder's throne, "The robots, I've seen them up close. They call themselves the Kraang."

Shredder stopped listening the moment Karai mentioned robots, "I told you I am not interested in this robot fiction. I will hear no more of this."

"There is more, and it's about the turtles." He became far more intrigued when she said that, "More specifically, about the girl they have with them. I heard the Kraang called her a Lightfury, I don't think she isn't human either. But they did have this. I shot it her with it and it managed to hurt her." Karai ended her report by showing the gun she picked up.

Shredder got off his throne and looked down at the gun analytically. He certainly took notice of the odd girl that was foolish enough to try and attack him that night atop the Wolf Hotel, especially since she pushed him away with some unknown force. He clearly underestimated how desperate Yoshi was for pupils, but nothing could stop him from getting his revenge.

"Very well. We will see what this can teach us about our enemies. As for you, I want you to find out all you can about this 'Kraang'. Their technology may prove useful in our war against Yoshi and his disciples." He placed his hands onto her shoulders, "Well done, Karai."

Karai smiled, feeling vindicated for her persistence and basking in the admiration of her father. She knew that she would make her family proud by punishing the one who took her mother away.

* * *

After they all made it back to the lair, Leo asked Splinter and April to be there so he could just tell them all at once. He didn't want to tell this twice and he already felt guilty enough. "I know I should've told you about Karai sooner, but I really thought there was a chance she would be good. And I guess, I sorta… liked her. Go ahead, laugh." Leo hung his head in shame after recounting everything that happened since the night he met Karai.

But none of them were laughing. Even if she had a good idea about Leo's feelings for Karai, hearing Leo say it out loud made Hikari's heart ache. Mikey and Donnie were far more surprised, but not for the reasons Leo thought.

"Dude, I can't believe you trusted her." Mikey pointed out.

Donnie then said in disappointment, "I can't believe you didn't trust us enough to tell us."

His little brothers' calm dejected responses burned him more than anger would have done, "I was wrong. I'm really sorry."

"I tried to warn him." April sighed.

"You too, huh?" Raph followed suit.

Splinter approached his son with understanding, "Leonardo, you are not the first young man or turtle to have made a fool of yourself over a girl."

"What about Donnie?" Mikey asked, earning a punch on the shoulder from Donnie.

Splinter ignored the two and continued sternly, "However when that girl is a kunoichi in the employ of your enemy, that is an error you cannot afford. Ninjas like Karai are masters of cunningness and deceptions. I fear you are looking for something that is not there."

"I know, we can't trust her. I see that now."

Splinter put his hand on Leo's shoulder, "Good, you must learn from your mistake."

"Thank you for understanding." He smiled with relief, "I'm glad you're not mad."

"Who says I am not mad?" Splinter turned back and jabbed the end on his cane onto Leo's foot. Leo yelped in pain before hopping around and falling to the ground.

Although coming to terms with everything and confessing to his family about Karai wasn't easy, Leo was just happy no one was hurt because of his faith in Karai. Although he did still believe there was good in her, he now knew better than to put his team and his family at risk for his own beliefs.

Later that night, Leo made up his mind and left his room with a mission. Raph noticed him on his way to his own room and stopped him, "Hey bro, I'm glad you came to your senses."

"You were right, I don't know what I was thinking."

"I can see how you think she's hot, in an evil kinda way." Raph said jokingly.

"Don't worry, I am _so_ over her now." Leo laughed before his voice shifted to something softer and sincere, "If anything, Karai helped me open my eyes."

Raph quickly figured out what he meant and gave Leo a supportive punch to the shoulder, "About time. _Please_ don't let me know when you two are done."

Leo rolled his eyes as Raph went back into his room. Leo took a deep breath to build a little more courage before knocking on her door.

"Come in" Leo heard Hikari shout through the door. Leo did as she said and opened the door.

Hikari was lying down with Donnie's laptop on her bed, having asked to borrow it earlier to watch her favorite movie, _Your Name_. She needed something to cry and lift her spirits up after the day she just had. She was wearing her comfy PJs and cocooned snugly in her blanket when she heard the door knocking. When Leo came in, she sat up and let the blanket fall down her back and pool around her lap.

"Leo? What's up?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk… about us." Leo answered in a honest and serious tone.

"Oh. Ok." She closed the laptop and pushed the blanket aside, she turned all her attention to him.

"I know we've been saying it a lot to each other but I'm so sorry." Leo started, "You were ready to move on and I was still stuck in the moment. I just wanted to stay mad, at you then at myself. You were so perfect, and I wanted to be perfect for you, but then when I found out about what you did to the Kraang, it destroyed the perfect image I had of you. I hurt you and I thought letting you go was the best thing I could've done, but I was just selfish. I was too busy clinging to one side of you that I didn't let myself know you for who you really are."

Hikari was stunned to hear that. Listening to Leo bare his heart out made it easier for her to do the same, "I'm sorry too, I kept trying to ignore how it made you felt. My hands aren't clean, and that's the path I've chosen. When you guys found out, I didn't want to own up to it. I just wanted all this pain to be over and I wanted you to ignore it too. I cared so much what you thought of me that I forgot to care about how you were feeling. You didn't deserve that."

Leo could've laughed at how ridiculous they both had been acting, "Sensei was right. I was only looking for what I wanted to see and now I feel I missed so much."

Hikari pulled her legs to her chest, "So, what do you want to do now?"

"I want to make this right." He said with an earnest look, "I want to get to know all of you this time."

"What about Karai? I thought you liked her."

"I did… Karai was like a crazy dream, but I know what I feel for you is real. Your drive, your curiosity, and your joy, all that time we spent together, that was you. I just needed to see that."

Hikari had a soft smile on her face after hearing that, "I think I'm ready to let you see me too. I want to tell you everything someday, I'm sick of running all the time."

"It doesn't have to be tonight." Leo gave her an out. He made the mistake of blaming her for not sharing her traumas with him. He wasn't going to force her to tell him more than she wanted to.

Hikari was grateful for his patience. She probably could tell him tonight, but she already felt so vulnerable and emotionally raw after what happened at the Worldwide Genome Center and after the talk they just had. Instead, she scooted over a little and opened the laptop again, "Do you want to watch the movie with me? I don't think I'm gonna sleep tonight after…"

"Sure." Leo nodded but froze when he actually realized what he just agreed to. He shifted awkwardly, "How do you want to-"

Hikari rolled her eyes with a fond smile, there was the dork she had fallen for.

"Come on." She patted on the empty spot on the bed. Leo sat down stiffly, trying to calm his nerves. She looked over at him with concern, checking to see if he was really OK with it or if he was just indulging her.

Leo saw this and loosened up a little. She was looking out for him and she seemed like she was ready to do anything to make him more comfortable. Hikari simpered and draped the neglected blanket over the two of them, wrapping them close together as the warmth seeped through their skins.

Neither of them said a word for the rest of the night. The two too busy enjoying both the movie and each other's company. They didn't even notice when they fell asleep to the song at the credits of the movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the couple has talked things out. You can't believe how happy I am with this chapter. :)
> 
> There is a reason I gave Raph's fight with Karai to Hikari but I won't reveal it now for spoiler's sake. But Karai will still be a major character in this. Now that Shredder knows that Hikari isn't human and that they have something to use against her, the team has way more to worry about than they even know.
> 
> Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation.


	16. Midnight Blockbuster

Hikari woke up blurry eyed and dazed, she didn't remember falling asleep and she didn't think she would after what happened yesterday. As her mind cleared up, she felt the warm body sleeping on her. Memories of her conversation with Leo played in her head and reminded her how they both got here. She closed the dead laptop that was left on long after the movie was over, and slowly moved over to check the time on her T-Phone.

The movement was enough to jostle Leo, who was sleeping on her shoulder, and wake him up. He sat upright sluggishly and yawned, "Morning."

"Not exactly morning, but close enough." She groaned, wincing as the bright light from her T-Phone shone onto her eyes. It was only 3 am and far too early to be awake."

"I should probably head back to my room. I really don't want the others seeing me walking out of your room in the morning." Leo shuffled out from under the warm covers.

"You think they'd believe we were intimate?"

Leo stiffed at the question and stuttered with a blush forming on his face, "Well- Maybe?! I don't know! Everything's so new and I really don't want them asking questions right now."

"I understand." She smiled, "I don't think I can answer any of them either."

Leo relaxed after hearing that. Things were easier now that they were more open with each other, but he still felt like he had to ask, "But we are together now, right?"

"Only if you want to be."

"Yeah. I do."

Hikari laughed, "I don't think you're supposed to say that now."

"Oh, ha ha." Leo rolled his eyes and walked over to the door, turning back to her with a warm gaze, "I'll see you later."

"See you in the morning, Leo." She said with fondness. After Leo closed the door behind him, Hikari was left with a silent room and her thoughts. She tried settling back to bed, snuggling under the blanket and enjoying the lingering warmth. But just as her body lulled itself into slumber, she jolted up in a state of panic, her heart beating as any semblance of sleep was stripped away. She knew trying again was futile, so she got out of bed and picked out her outfit for the day.

* * *

She was careful not to wake anyone else up as she went about her morning routine. She brushed her teeth and did her own set of morning stretches before training. Once she was done with that, she decided to watch some TV to past the time. After a while, she noticed Mikey out of his room. "Morning, nii-chan." She greeted.

"Morning. You're really early today." Mikey yawned, his feet bringing him over to the couch while his mind was still in bed.

"Couldn't fall back asleep." She said nothing more about it. Mikey knew better than to pry.

"Wanna help me with breakfast?" He changed the subject, "I'm thinking we make some French toast. I found this stuff called cinnamon and Donnie told me it's like sugar but better."

"That's how he said it?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, that's how I remember he said it." Mikey shrugged as he walked over to the kitchen.

That got her to laugh, Mikey always had a way to cheer her up and keep her mind off the bad stuff. She hopped off the couch with enthusiasm, "All right. Let's do it."

By the time the two finished cooking up a storm, the lair was filled with the aroma of sugar, eggs and cinnamon. Donnie woke up to an amazing smell and following it straight to the kitchen, "That smells amazing…" Donnie squinted at the innocuous plate of French toast Hikari had placed before him, then looked at her suspiciously, "What did you do to our brother?"

"Relax, Mikey knows what he's doing." She then said the next part in a low voice, "Also, I made sure to keep the pizza sauce away from the bowl."

Before Donnie could add anything else, Raph joined them in the kitchen. Hikari went to pick up another plate Mikey was cooking and placed it in front of Raph.

"Morning." Raph woke up a little when the warm scent of breakfast hit him. He noticed her straight unbraided hair and called it out, "Lazy day?"

She nodded, "I'll probably tie it up before training."

Now that Raph was here, Donnie was confused when he realized who the last turtle missing from the table was, "Where's Leo?"

"Yeah, he's usually the first one down here." Mikey turned off the stove with the last few plates of French toasts finished.

"Must've had a busy night, huh?" Raph looked over at Hikari who didn't say a word to that. Just then, Leo showed up to the kitchen ready for training as always. Raph switched gears and turned to him with a knowing grin, "Speak of which, nice to see your lazy shell down here."

"Please, I come down last once and you're gonna give me slack for that?" Leo scoffed as he went to make his tea.

"Yup."

"Knock it off, you two. Save it for the dojo." Hikari stopped their bickering as she sat at the table with her plate in front of her, "Now it's cinnamon time."

Hikari took a bite just as Donnie and Mikey did. Their faces dropped and they all started coughing and wheezing. Donnie glared at the deceitful plate of food like he wanted to blow it up right there, "How much cinnamon did you put in this?!"

"Mikey!" Hikari said in-between her coughing fits, "You said you followed the recipe!"

Mikey was busy chugging down the milk carton with his head in the fridge. Once he got his vocal chords back, he wailed in defense, "I did! But I didn't think it was enough, so I might've added more?"

The burning sensation and dry coughing weren't stopping so Hikari grabbed the nearest cup to her and started drinking it, which so happened to be Leo's tea. "Hey, get your own tea!" Leo tried to grab his tea back from her grasps.

Desperation drove her to drink half of Leo's green tea before the bitter aftertaste made her stop, "Eugh, I still don't know how you drink this."

"That's didn't stop you just now."

"And I'm already regretting it." Hikari's eyes widened suddenly and started whining with her tongue out, "Ahh! It's mixing!"

Leo watched as Hikari gagged and complained about the awful taste combination of green tea and cinnamon. He smiled fondly at her over-the-top dramatics, fully letting himself enjoy the moment.

Raph already knew that Leo went to talk to Hikari last night. But seeing that dumb lovestruck look on his big brother's face after all this time made it clear that something happened really gross between those two. He glanced over at Donnie and that Brainiac had the face he made when he figured something out but wouldn't tell them the answer.

Those two were idiots if they were trying to keep it a secret, but Raph was waiting to see how long it would take from them to trip up and expose themselves with how obvious they're acting.

* * *

Training went about as normal, at least it was normal for his children. Splinter had long gotten used to his sons' antics when he came to training, but he always took this as a chance to boost their strengths and help them overcome their personal weaknesses. When he offered to train Hikari, he wondered what kind of student she would be given her past and her prior combat training. He wasn't surprised to learn that she was as studious and devoted as his eldest when it came to training.

What Splinter didn't expect was how hard she was willing to push herself. He kept a close eye as Hikari was training with Leonardo and Splinter noticed that he was training her more intensely today than he normally would. However, she wasn't complaining like his brothers would have. Instead, she seemed to thrive off the challenge and match his pace the entire time.

The scene reminded him of the first and only time Tang Shen asked her to teach her ninjutsu, their training wasn't very productive thanks to playful banter from the two of them and the laughter they shared with each step. Although she decided ninjutsu was not for her, the joyful memories they made that day always came to mind when he thought of his lost love.

He was delighted to see that his son had found someone special to hold and share these memories with. But he did laugh internally at their foolishness if they thought they could hide their new relationship from him.

Once training ended, the five of them were on their way out to enjoy their free time before Splinter stopped them, "Leonardo, Hikari. A word please."

"Oooh, someone's in trouble." Mikey laughed as he and the others left the dojo. Though, it didn't take a ninja master to guess that they were probably eavesdropping. No matter, this was a conversation he'd hope he would get to have with each of them.

"Is something wrong, sensei?" Hikari asked.

"No, everything is fine." He stood before them, "I am just waiting."

Leo and Hikari shared a look of confusion before he asked, "Waiting for what?"

"Someone to tell how long this relationship has been going on."

With that, Leo felt his face heat up as he stuttered, "M-Master Splinter, it's not that we're hiding it. We just started last night."

That last part sounded much worse than Leo intended, and he tried his best under Splinter's inquisitive gaze, "N-Not like that, I swear!"

Hikari stepped in to save Leo from combusting into a nervous blushing mess. "It's all so new, we don't even know what to say. We figured it'd be best to take it as it comes." She explained and gave Leo a calm loving look. It was enough for Leo to ground himself and mirror that look back at her.

He smiled at the new couple. How he wished Shen could be here to see one of their child grow close to someone like that, to one day learn to love someone like that.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to sound confrontational. I'm merely curious about this new development." His tone then shifted into something more serious, "As a father, I should also make sure that you are aware of everything you need to know as a new couple."

Hikari might not know what Splinter meant, but Leo definitely did. He stiffened like a board and immediately started protesting with his face now completely red, "Nope, We're good! C'mon Hikari."

Splinter chuckled as he watched Leonardo pull Hikari out of the dojo. It might be a little much to enjoy it, but it was his duty as a father to embarrass his son ever so slightly.

* * *

After barely escaping the bird-and-bees talk, Leo and Hikari split ways to go about their normal routines. However, neither of them really focused on their tasks. Donnie called Hikari out on her daydreaming more than usual during their reading lessons. Leo found it harder to get into a meditative state when all he could think about were the possibilities now that they were finally on the same page.

Raph and Donnie were pretty much sick of those two when they caught Hikari looking at their big brother with puppylove eyes while he was geeking out to Space Heroes again. Even if they won't act like it, they were happy for the two of them.

So far it seemed like Mikey was the only one who didn't notice the shift in their relationship. Hikari wished she was more surprised than she actually was. It was always hit or miss with Mikey but she was sure he'd pick up on it before they had to tell him. But tonight was a night for the five of them to just bond, it was Mikey's turn for a movie night and he seemed to take the term very literally.

After 3 zombie movies in a row, she couldn't bring herself to care about this new group of protagonists and their troubles. How can film, something that can show her such amazing stories, let her down by giving out such a bland piece of work?

As the main character started freaking out at his first zombie moment, she was as unenthusiastic as the others.

"Big deal."

"So what?"

"Seen it."

"Boring."

Mikey, on the other hand, was appalled at their reactions, "Boring? No way! This is Primo Zombie Mayhem!"

"I can't take it anymore." Raph groaned, "We've been watching Primo Zombie Mayhem for HOURS."

"Duh, that's what makes it a zombie marathon." Mikey said it like it was obvious, "We gotta watch it all."

"But it's just the same plot points again and again. This guy's going to make it while his best friend gets eaten." Just as Hikari said that, the main character wailed in anguish as he watched his best friend get torn apart by the horde. She waved her hand at the TV, "See?"

"Nee-chan, you can't give up now." Mikey whined as he draped himself onto her, "This is your first zombie marathon!"

She rolled her eyes and lifted his arms off her shoulders, "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, I'm gonna make up for some of it."

"I'm going to bed too." Donnie got up from the floor, "If I don't get enough REM sleep, I'm gonna be off all day."

Mikey refused to move as everyone else was heading to the bedrooms. They probably could've forced Mikey to go to bed, but Mikey would've just snuck back out to watch it on his own anyways. Leo, being the responsible big brother, gave him a warning before they were out of earshot, "Careful, Mikey. You know how your imagination runs away with you when you watch scary movies alone."

"Aw, gimme some credit, bro! A few brain-eating undead are no thang." Mikey waved off the warning without taking his eyes off the TV.

"My room door's open if you need me." Hikari left with the others as she turned to Leo, "He's not gonna sleep tonight, is he?"

"Nope." Leo said.

* * *

"Who needs them? Those sleepyheads don't know what they're missing." Mikey laughed as he continued shoving popcorn down his mouth.

He was on the edge on his seat, tensing up at the child in the group wandered off after hearing a meow, "Don't pet that! It's a zombie cat!"

"No, dude! They're zombies! Go for the head!" Mikey cried out as he watched another character losing his mind and blindly throwing stuff at the group looming towards him.

Wails of anguish and pain came loud through the TV as the final act picked up. There were humans dropping for every two zombies they killed. It was a losing battle and there was only one man last standing. It was the climax of the film and Mikey couldn't be more invested, "Pssh, Leo thought that would scare me? As if."

After the credits for the last movie of the marathon started rolling, Mikey let out a big yawn and turned the TV off. He dragged himself into his room and got into bed. But the darkness and silence shrouding over him just gave way for his crazy imagination to run free. He was suddenly hearing noises and getting eerie feeling that something was looming over him. He couldn't stop fretting and fidgeting in his bed, anxiety and paranoia filling his body. He knew he wasn't going to fall asleep…

"Hey bro!" Mikey came bursting into Raph's room with skateboard in hand, "Who needs sleep, right? You uhp for a late night skate run?"

Raph didn't appreciate that rude awakening and Mikey was about to face his full fury. Raph stomped out of his bed and shoved the clock by his side into Mikey's face, "What's wrong with you?! Do you know what time it is?!"

"Uh… Guess that's a no!" Mikey then ran out of Raph's room when he threw the clock in his hand at Mikey, "Ah!"

With Raph not interested, Mikey went to Hikari's room. She did offer after all so Mikey was gonna take it. Learning from earlier, he peeked into her room, "Nee-chan! You wanna go…" He paused when he noticed that Hikari wasn't in her room, "Oh no! The zombies got her!"

Mikey immediately rushed to Leo's room and started banging on his door, "Leo! Hikari's gone!"

Leo opened the door with a stunned look, "What?"

"She's not in her room, I think the zombies ate her!"

Leo sighed and ran his hand down his face, "Mikey, there are no such things as zombies and they didn't eat her. How would they even get into the lair without us knowing anyways?"

Mikey didn't have an answer for that, at least one that Leo wouldn't argue with. "Well. She's still missing, we gotta find her! I'll go get the others."

"No!" Mikey turned to Leo at his outburst. Now he was looking to Leo for answers and Leo couldn't stop his voice from pitching, "I-Umm, she's probably just in the bathroom or having a stroll through the sewers to help her sleep better. I wouldn't worry about it."

"But-" Mikey started before Leo cut him off to reassure him.

"Trust me, Mikey. If something happens, I'll let you know and we can go after her."

"Ok…?" Mikey was still so confused after Leo closed the door in his face. Well, Leo knew her better than anyone. So, if Leo said he didn't need to worry about it, he was sure that Hikari was fine. Since he really didn't want to wake up Donnie, he decided to just go out by himself.

Leo could finally breathe again after he heard Mikey walk away. He whispered just loudly enough for her to hear, "Coast is clear."

Hikari rolled out from under his bed. Hearing Mikey run down the hall didn't give her a lot of time to find a better hiding place. Luckily, Leo kept his room far tidier than his brothers. He helped her up and held her in his arms for a little, "You know, this could be much easier if we just told him."

"I know, but the others have figured it out and I'm curious to see how long it'll take Mikey to piece it together." Hikari smiled coyly, "You can't deny it's a _little_ fun to pulling all this off without him even noticing it."

He rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything against it. "Come on, this is the best part." He led her back to his bed and picked up the Arachnid Man comic they were reading together.

* * *

Mikey landed the jump and slipped through the mostly quiet alleyways of New York. The city never truly slept after all. The noises and the rush of adrenaline he got when he was on his board helped him relax after all those annoying thoughts wouldn't leave him alone.

"Ahh, better. Just had to take my mind off-" Mikey was grinding down a handrail when he saw a bunch of shadows limping down in an alley, "Zombies?!"

That split moment was enough for Mikey to lose focus and fall off his board. The crash attracted the attention of the zombies as a few started making their way over to him. He got back up in a hurry and started skating away, "Sorry z-dudes! Gotta go!"

He stopped immediately when he spotted another horde on the other end of the alley, "Oh man, they've got friends!"

With the hordes closing in on him and no other means of escape, he put his board on his shell and climbed up the fire escape. "They're everywhere!"

Mikey kept running, jumping from rooftop to roomtop. He needed to go home! He needed his family!

* * *

Hikari yawned as they got through the last few pages of another comic. Granted, she never thought reading comics would lull her to sleep after the night before. But something about being there by Leo's side just put her at ease. She was ready to doze off when she jumped at the loud banging footsteps and the shouts echoing down to the room, "Guys! Guuyys!"

The two rushed out of the room just as Raph and Donnie did. The two brothers gave suspensions looks to the couple both by Leo's door, it didn't help that Hikari was in there with her hair down and in her sleepwear just now.

The four of them stood in awkward silence and Leo was definitely not ready for his brothers to confront him about this, "Umm…"

"Zoommbiees!" Mikey's panicked wail snapped them back into reality.

"We're definitely talking about this later." Donnie said as the four of them walked over to the main area where Mikey was freaking out.

"What the heck are you yelling about, Mikey?" Raph asked, "I thought you went skateboarding."

"I did! And there was a full-on zombie apocalypse!" Mikey exclaimed with flailing arms, "For real! They tried to eat my brain!"

"Talk about a light snack." Raph scoffed, much to Mikey's dismay.

"Mikey, you're letting all those movies get in your head." Hikari said.

"Yeah, zombies aren't real." Donnie reasoned, "They're rotted in Haitian Voodoo Folklore that has nothing to do with the horror movie tropes popularly associated with zombies."

Raph was starting to get annoyed with all of Donnie's lore mumbo-jumbo, "Will you stop? I'm trying to stay mad at Mikey."

"Enough!" The five stood with their backs straight as Splinter walked towards his children, "We must not be so quick to ignore a potential threat. As ninja, we seek to exploit this weakness in others. But we must be vigilant ourselves."

Dread started showing on everyone's faces but Mikey's. Leo asked with a wary tone, "Are you saying we should-"

"Investigate!" Splinter cut him off with a slam of his cane, "Perhaps what Michelangelo saw is no cause for alarm. But we ignore a warning at our peril. Now go!"

"There goes another night…" Hikari sighed as she headed for her room to get dressed.

"Thanks a lot, Mikey." Raph glared before he, Leo and Donnie all went back to get their weapons.

* * *

After they all geared up, they took to the rooftops and headed for the part Mikey had been skating earlier. After three loops around the same block, they were about to leave before Mikey convinced them to camp out at the spot they attacked him. Now they were sitting on top of a rooftop for the third hour. Hikari yawned again as Donnie gave them the same update for the past two hours, "Still nothing."

"Oh, that's a shocker." Raph snorted.

Mikey could see that none of them believed him. Granted, he did drag them all out in the middle of the night, but he wouldn't lie about something like this. "You gotta believe me! It was like a never-ending zombie conga line!" Mikey cried.

"Oh yeah? Did they look like this?" Raph started groaning like a zombie with his arms stretched out.

"Or this?" Leo joined in with his feet dragging on the ground as he limped towards his little brother.

Mikey ignored his big brothers and kept a close lookout until he finally spotted him, "No, they looked like that!"

The four looked to where Mikey was pointed at, sure enough, there were shadows shuffling down the streets in a crowd. Hikari felt her brain reboot when she saw the group of groaning bodies moving down the pavement, "Oh my stars…"

"Unbelievable…" Donnie picked his jaw off the ledge as he took a closer look with his binoculars.

"That there are actually zombies?" Leo asked.

"No, that Mikey was right." Donnie replied.

"Well. Either way, time to smash some zombie skulls."

"I don't think they're zombies. Look." She pointed to the zombies all heading down the same direction, "Zombies are supposed to be mindless. They're way too organized, not to mention all the stuff they've got with them."

"Power consoles, dissemination grids, nanoprocessors… This is no trip to the convenience store. This is a mad scientist's wish list."

"Someone sounds jealous." Raph remarked.

"We're not looting it, Donnie." Hikari crossed her arms knowingly.

"I wasn't going to-" Donnie sputtered in indignation before trying to defend himself, "But think of all the stuff-"

Mikey had an observation of his own, "Weird, they weren't carrying any of that before."

"Come on, guys." Leo stood up, stopping another pointless argument from starting, "We need to find out where they're taking it."

The team blended back into the shadows as they followed the lumbering group to their destination.

* * *

The destination turned out to be the New York Sleep Research Institute. A building at least six stories tall, only overshadowed by the daunting towers surrounding it. The building was ominous enough on its own with the dim pink-ish light leaking though the glass window panes. The team hid behind a concrete sign with the Institute's name as they watched humans come from every direction and all entering the building with gadgets or tech in their possessions. Mikey was quite smug when he turned to the others, "Told you this was big."

"Ok, I admit there's something going on here." Leo conceded, "But I think Hikari's right, they aren't exactly zombies."

"Then they're infected mutant, like in that movie Toxic Tomorrow!" Mikey said, like that was the answer.

They all looked at him unimpressed before Hikari reminded him, "Mikey, everyone we know besides April are mutants."

"Oh, right." They did their best not to facepalm at Mikey and focused on the mission at hand.

The team snuck around and started using their climbing claws to scale the side of the building. It was taller than they were used to, but they made it to the rooftop with their arms only being slightly sore. The first thing they noticed besides the skylight was the honestly ridiculous amount of satellite dishes on a research facility building. There were at least twenty lined up in rows of two.

Mikey saw this and his eyes brightened, "Sweet! They must get so many channels!"

"Or they're using these to broadcast the signal that's controlling these people!" Donnie pointed out.

Hikari felt a chill go down her spine as she approached the skylight, "I'm getting that freaky feeling again, you know the one that I get whenever we're close to-"

"Kraang." Leo finished her sentence, looking down at the all-too-familiar pink glow and Kraang tech. They unlocked the skylight and dropped down onto the support beams. Now that they were inside, they had a much clearer view on what was going on.

"Woahh…" Mikey's gasp pretty much voiced everyone's thoughts on the sight they see below them.

The humans they were following before were dropping off their loot into a nice pile at one side of the room, there were even more that were moving material and just standing around. In the center of the giant open room was a huge piece of machinery that was so tall it had almost reached the ceiling. There were power cords hanging just above them connected to this odd metal obelisk, and right by the giant computer module were a group of Kraang holding a woman hostage.

"The humans that are in the state known as unconscious are very effective at bringing to Kraang that which is the equipment desired by Kraang." One of the Kraangdroids said.

"Indeed, Kraang!" Another agreed, "Soon the planet which is known as Earth will be known as the planet which is ruled by Kraang!"

"No!" The woman cried, "You can't do this! I won't let you!"

"Kraang, take the human which is known as Dr. Sloane and do the thing that the time has come for the doing of." They couldn't tell which Kraangdroid said it, but they could see the distress and defeat in the woman's posture.

"Kraang shall do the thing." The Kraang holding the woman started pulling her away, she didn't even fight them as she was dragged away.

"Well, that clears everything up…" Donnie paused, "I think."

Mikey kept his eyes on Dr. Sloane the Kraang were taking away, "Where are they taking that doctor lady? We gotta help her!"

"With all these zombie sleepwakers in the way? Let's smash the machine first!" Raph said with his fist in his palm.

"Hold on, it's still connected to all those people." Hikari points to the mindless crowds, "We don't know what breaking it could do to them."

"It could be like pulling a drive out of a laptop without ejecting it." Donnie speculated, only to be faced with the blank looks from his team, "Which is bad."

Leo nodded, "We should talk to that scientist then. Let's go."

* * *

They followed Dr. Sloane into her office, if the name on the door was any indication, and hid away from the light in the room. The Kraang that were holding her had tossed her onto the ground, "You have served the purpose that is the purpose that Kraang intended. The usefulness of that which is you is at a point that is ending."

"What-What are you saying?" Dr. Sloane asked with fear shaking her voice.

"Kraang does not know how Kraang can say what Kraang has said in a way that is clearer than Kraang has already said it." The Kraang took aim at her before a glowing blade came bursting out of the robot's chest. The other one had its head ripped off its metal neck.

"God, they must really like hearing themselves talk." Hikari remarked drily as she pulled the energy blade out of the Kraangdroid and let the empty body drop.

"Hi." Leo said awkwardly as Mikey and Raph caught the escaping Kraang brains, "Don't worry. We're the good guys."

"Thank you for saving me! You're… turtles?" Dr. Sloane's eyes widen when she got a better look at her saviors. It was an interesting sight for sure, four humanoid turtles with weapons, and a teenage-looking girl with silver eyes and a glowing weapon on her arm.

"It's a long story." Leo answered.

"And what about you?" She turned to the silver-eyed girl.

"I'm not human if that's what you mean. All you need to know is I'm with them." Hikari said with her arms crossed.

Dr. Sloane was surprised with how blunt and rude this girl was. But all of this was the least of her concerns right now. "Fair enough, I don't think I want to know considering how strange my life has been lately. I'm Dr. Annie Sloane. You can call me Annie." She introduced herself, doing her best to ignore the turtle in red forcing two Kraang brains into one of her filing cabinets.

"What exactly were you working on here, Annie?" Donnie asked her.

"I was developing remote brain scanning technology to recreate people's dreams. But the Kraang made me use my research to control people's dreams, and from there, to control sleeping people. They forced me to build that thing out there." She explained, "Now they want to use my 'dream machine' as a model to an even bigger one. They'll be able to control the whole city!"

"See? We gotta smash it!" Raph seemed far more excited than anyone should be about destroying stuff.

Annie immediately warned him against it, "That could damage the sleepwalkers' brains. It'd be like disconnecting a drive without ejecting it."

"Ha! See?" Donnie smirked with vindication.

Leo was done with his brothers' pettiness and got back on track, "I don't suppose you built an off switch?"

"They didn't want to and they never left me alone with the machine, but I figured out a way." Annie walked over to her desk and pulled on a flash drive, "This program will safely wake everyone up, then trigger a self-destruct sequence. Just plug it in and it does the rest. But make sure you get everyone out. The self-destruct part could get explode-y."

"Sounds like a typical Wednesday night." Hikari rolled her eyes and the others seemed just as nonchalant about it.

Annie couldn't help but shuddered. Even if they weren't human, she could tell they were just children. How often did they have to do this to react to aliens and a building blowing up with such little regard?

Annie handed the flash drive to Leo, who promptly said, "Oh-uh… You never saw us, OK? We're kinda not supposed to let people know we exist."

"Yeah. Well, I wasn't supposed to help aliens enslave a bunch of New Yorkers, either." She sighed before reassuring them, "Your secrets safe with me."

Now that they had a plan, they went back out to the main room with the machine and kicked the door down. "Pack up the sleeping bags! This slumber party's over!" Leo shouted as they made their dramatic entrance.

Instantly the sleepwalkers reacted to the noise, moving towards them with their arms stretched out. Donnie pulled out his bo staff and looked out to the crowd, "Uh, is it just me or are the sleepwalkers coming after us now?"

"A bunch of slow-moving, out-of-shape people who aren't even awake? Excuse me if I'm not shaking with fear." Raph scoffed.

Mikey was aghast with how casually they were treating this, "Dude, didn't the zombie movies teach you anything? It doesn't matter if they're weak. They get you 'cause there's so many of them. Lucky for you guys, I'm a zombie expert. I know just what to do! Bash 'em in the head!"

"Mikey, last I check they aren't zombies and we're not supposed to hurt them." Hikari reminded him, shattering the idea before Mikey could smash his nunchuck into someone's face.

"Oh, right." Mikey blinked, "In that case, the zombie expert says RUNNN!"

They were puzzled as they watched Mikey dashed up the stairs to put as much distance as he could from the sleepwakers. Raph scoffed as he and the others faced the crowd, "Run? Look how slow they are! They still haven't gotten to us!"

"So if we can't hit them, then what?" Donnie asked, still in his defensive position.

"They don't seem to do much, I think we can just push through them." Leo said with his katanas down.

Hikari looked up to where Mikey was and saw a couple of large computer towers lined up against the wall. She mapped out a route in her head before pulling out her uni-weapon, "You do that, I'll take the high route. Pass me the stick."

Leo handed it to her just before Hikari reacted and blocked the oncoming shot with her guard, "Dang it. Almost forgot about them."

Leo threw a shuriken at the Kraangdroid's head, "We'll keep you covered. Go!"

Hikari tightened her grip on the flash drive and ran up the same stairway Mikey did, leaping up onto the computer tower and used her whip to pull herself up onto the support beams. She was about to drop down onto the main machine when two pairs of Kraangdroids showed up on each end. Two facing her started firing while the other two behind her were closing in on her, she blocked them all with her guard the shield switched into blade mode, stabbing the first one before kicking the second one off the beam.

Unfortunately, the two from behind had pinned her down as she kept her death grip on the flash drive. She couldn't risk using her energy on them in case it also destroyed the drive. She was desperate enough to consider twisting in their grip and risk all of them falling off, when she felt the heavy weight keeping her down disappear from her back. She stood up to see Mikey with his nunchucks out and a proud grin on his face. She had never been more relieved to see him, "Mikey…"

"Come on, our bros need us!" Mikey said as they both jumped down. The other three weren't doing so good. With so many humans around them, they couldn't fight like they normally would. Not to mention that the sleepwalkers were still under the Kraang's control, so the brothers were up against a whole wave of enemies they can't even fight.

"Uh, Leo?" Raph shouted as he was getting boxed in.

"I know. I know!" Leo used the sides of katanas to stop the sleepwalkers from grabbing him. He was pushing them back, but it was only a matter of time.

Donnie was already trapped under the horde. A kraangdroid had a blaster aimed at his head as he started saying his last words, "Oh, boy. This is a lame way to go. Tell April I love her! I mean, uh… Tell her I'm very fond of… or I have feelings that while complicated…"

"Tell her yourself, bro!" Mikey shouted as he dropped down onto the kraangdroid, "Because that was getting too long to remember anyways."

After pushing away the horde holding Donnie down, Mikey ran over to Raph and shoved enough humans to the side to clear a path for himself and his brothers, "I told you guys! You can't just walk into a zombie horde! You gotta stay on the move!"

Hikari, on the other hand, dropped down next to Leo and changed her whip into a staff. She then did a wide sweep downwards, knocking the calves and knees of the sleepwalkers surrounding them. As the sleepwalkers fell to their knees, she turned to Leo with a coy smile, "Hey."

"Hey." Leo mirrored the same smile back at her, "Nice seeing you here."

She kicked the knee of a sleepwalker coming towards them with just enough force not to do any real damage, "Gotta even the score, I've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Didn't you hear me? You gotta keep moving!" Mikey's yelling interrupted their oddly timed moment. The two switched back into mission mode as they made their way back to the other three. Mikey had led them to the rope he used to climb up to the support beams earlier to save Hikari. They all started climbing upwards to get away from the horde.

"The good thing about zombies is that they don't climb." Mikey remarked before noticing a few sleepwalkers making their way up the rope, "Aw man! They break all the rules!"

They kept climbing up the rope, stopping when they suddenly heard Mikey cry out, "I've got it! Hikari, give me the flash drive!"

Seeing the determined look in his eyes, she didn't hesitate tossing the flash drive to Mikey, "Here!"

"Wait, Hikari-" Donnie tried to protest but Leo stopped him.

"You know what, Donnie? Mikey was right to drag us out here. And he was right about running from the zombies. Maybe we should stop doubting him and listen."

Mikey was more than grateful for the trust his team and family was placing on him. He followed the path he mapped as he swung himself off the rope, making his team cling the rope a little tighter as he landed onto a kraangdroid, "Booyakasha!"

As the crowd started reaching for him, he leaped off the metal body and landed onto another one he saw. He continued using the metal robots as stepping stones until he made it to the main computer. He immediately stuck the flash drive into the USB slot with a victory cry, "And he sticks the landing! The crowd goes wild!"

The computer started reacting almost instantly. The signature pink glow that came from the dream machine turned warning-level red, the entire thing started to flicker and smoke as sparks started flying around.

The others made it to the upper platforms when they saw the dream machine turning itself into a giant firecracker. "He did it!" Donnie exclaimed.

"Now we've gotta get these people out of here." Leo looked over at the group of oblivious sleepwalkers that were slowly waking up.

With the humans regaining conscious, the turtles weren't sure how to get them out of the building without exposing their existence. Hikari stepped towards the crowd of walking humans, "I'll deal with them, go help Mikey."

Leo nodded, "I'll see you outside."

The team split ways with the turtles going to help Mikey fight off the Kraang while Hikari was in the middle of the crowd, trying to get their attention, "Everyone! We have to go now!"

"Huh… What's going on?" Someone in the crowd muttered as people started looking around and realizing they weren't in their homes anymore.

One man heard Hikari's shouting but was far too irritated with the bright red lights and the sudden awakening, "What's that girl talking about?"

"Go home, kid. It's past curfew." Another man groaned aloud at her.

Hikari was fed up with them, her voice was starting to strain with how loud and desperate she was getting. She was ready to tear her throat apart but no one was even paying attention to her, "Eugh! Listen to me!"

Hikari suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, she tensed until she noticed it was Annie. Hikari was so distracted with getting them all out that she didn't even sense Annie near her. "Don't worry, I got this." Annie said before standing in front of the crowd and shouted in an authoritative tone, "Everyone, follow me! We have to evacuate now!"

It was insulting how easily Annie commanded the crowd. They listened to her as everyone ran out of the building, Hikari knew the humans wouldn't listen to her because she was just a spark, a helpless child in the eyes of these grown-ups. But she understood that what they might think of her didn't matter as long as they were safe. As she and Annie were following behind the group, Annie couldn't help but be concerned, "What about the Kraang?"

"We've dealt with them before." Hikari said without a hint of doubt, "The guys can handle it."

Just as they all made it out onto the streets, the ground shook as the explosion rattled the institute. The now fully awake humans were getting frantic and asking questions amongst themselves, "What's going on here? How did I get here?"

Annie turned to Hikari and whispered, "Go, before they notice you."

Hikari nodded before slipping away into the crowd and around the back of the building. She waited for the turtles to drop down, reuniting the team once more as they all headed back home.

* * *

After they got back to the lair, they all stood before Master Splinter Leo recounted their mission and the Kraang's entire plan, "You were right, sensei. The Kraang would've turned everyone in the city into their puppets."

"I was right… about Michelangelo being right." Master Splinter corrected him, "Perhaps next time you will think twice about ignoring a warning… even one from your little brother."

"I can't believe Mikey figure it out." Raph said, "He couldn't even figure out that those two were a thing now."

That got Mikey's attention as he blinked, "Wait, when did they tell you?"

The others all looked at Mikey in shock. Donnie sputtered in disbelief, "You knew?"

"Yeah…." He looked at his family, wondering why they were acting so weirdly about this, "I thought we were waiting for them to tell us."

"When did you know?" Leo asked.

"The moment you walked into the kitchen and could look her in the eye."

That answer stunned them into silence before Hikari couldn't stop herself from chuckling and petting his head, "Never change, Mikey."

As he was enjoying the moment, he suddenly remembered something and grabbed Hikari's hand, "Oh, Vampire movie marathon's on next! Better study up, dudes! This stuff is important!"

Hikari was helpless to stop Mikey from pulling her towards the TV while the other three were already dreading it. Hikari just rolled her eyes and smiled, "It's not like we have anything else planned."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, Mikey continues to surprise me. Also, this chapter is actually from the TMNT: New Animated Adventures comics. This one is a personal favorite of mine because we need more Mikey Recognition in canon.
> 
> Just because Hikari and Leo got together doesn't mean that their troubles are over though, relationships aren't easy and I have some ideas in mind for them :)
> 
> Thank you, Mchammer_2, for your wonderful reviews. Hearing that you guys enjoy my story makes me want to write even more :D
> 
> Next chapter is probably going to be one of my personal favorites from season 1 so I hope I do it justice.
> 
> Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation.


	17. Mousers Attack!

The Zombie incident definitely reminded them that they needed to stay on their A-game in case of any other activities. However, that didn't mean training always went smoothly. They were all practicing their forms, but Raph decided he was going to ignore the lesson… again. He was going much faster than everyone else as he cycled through the forms, while Leo was taking his time to get his form right.

"What? Are you fighting a guy in slow motion?"

"I suppose I could do it faster if I ignored my form, like you."

Hikari sighed as she knew what was coming, she knew better than to argue with Leo when it came to form during training. Raph, on the other hand, had no problem taking the bait. "Ignore this form!"

The others stopped and moved out of the way as the two took over the training mat. Neither of them really wanted to step in, the bruises and glares weren't worth it. Splinter stepped in to punish the two of them, pressing on the pressure points on the side of their necks. The two winced in pain until Splinter let go, Hikari and the others had to hold their laughter in at the sight of their strongest member and their leader getting told off by their Sensei.

"Competition is a great motivator, but not when it turns you against each other." He scolded his sons, "So now you will be sparring in teams."

"Ok, I'll take Hika-" Leo's words were cut off by Splinter's interruption.

"You will take Raphael." He said, leading Leo and Raph to look at each other unsurely, "You two must focus on working together, not competing against each other."

"Ok, so me and Raph against Mikey, Donnie, and Hikari?" Leo asked.

Raph scoffed, "Doesn't seem all that fair to them."

"Wait, what are you trying to say?" Donnie narrowed his eyes.

"How can I put this nicely?" Raph acted like he cared about sparing any feelings before continuing very smugly, "We're way better than you guys."

That ticked Hikari off and lit a spark in her, "Hey! I'm just as good a fighter as you guys. Leo has been training me for this."

"And you're great! I promise." Leo said quickly in a placating manner, "But when it comes to hand-to-hand…"

Hearing Leo dismiss her like that only made her competitive nature burn even more, "Oh, you're on."

Hikari turned to Donnie and Mikey, whispering in their huddle, "Got any plans?"

"We've got the numbers advantage. I'm thinking we split up to take each of them down." Donnie said, "You know Leo's fighting style best, Mikey and I will try to take Raph down. If not, we'll keep him busy until you can come help us."

"Right… It's _just_ because I know Leo's fighting style." Hikari rolled her eyes, making Donnie do the same and confess.

"Ok, so maybe I'm hoping he'll go easy on you."

"Let's hope you never have to go up against April then."

Mikey did his best to hide his laughter but failing quite miserably. Donnie glared at Mikey, shutting him up but not stopping the cheeky grin on his face. Donnie sighed, "Just stick to the plan."

"Good luck." Hikari sighed before all five of them got into position.

"Hajime!" Splinter called it out, and the fight was set into motion.

Donnie and Mikey immediately rushed at Raph to double team him. Leo moved to help only to be faced with Hikari blocking his path. The two looked at each other with a competitive gleam and smiled, keeping a close eye while they squared up against each other.

Hikari did the best with the moves she had learned, but Leo taught her most of the moves she knew. She tried mixing it up with some of her old moves and relying on her flexibility to keep Leo on his toes. As time goes on, she was started to worry about if the two of them could take Raph on their own. With both Leo and herself locked in a stalemate, she pulled out one last move up her sleeve. She let herself get pushed back a little by Leo and looked up at him, her silver eyes widening in panic as her voice trembled, "Leo, please…"

That made Leo pause, giving Hikari a slight window to strike at him. Leo barely registered the smirk on her face and the mistake he made until it was too late to deflect. Unfortunately for her, another green hand grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm back. Raph pushed her onto the ground, keeping her pinned face-down onto the mat and her arm above her.

"Nice try." Raph's smug voice just ticked her off even more.

She thrashed as best she could in his hold but a tight grip and a little extra force let her know that she wasn't going to get out of this. She had no choice but to yield.

Leo smiled at his brother as Splinter called off the fight, "Thanks, Raph."

"You were right, sensei." Raph looked proudly over his defeated siblings, "Working together is fun."

* * *

While Leo and Raph were walking around the lair with pride, the other three were sulking, still licking the wounds from their humiliating defeat. Leo did his best as the leader to try and lift their spirits up, "Look, Raph and I may be better fighters. But you're all still an important part of this team."

"As important as you two?" Donnie asked with a challenging tone.

"Yeah, remember that time we found that five-dollar bill. Hikari was the only one who could get it." Raph replied airily, making him the target of Hikari's angered glare.

"Yes, because being the most flexible member of the team means that I get to slip through tight grates for pizza money." She remarked sarcastically, "Thank you, Raphael. Nice to know all those morning stretches are for something."

"Look, we shouldn't compare ourselves." Leo tried again to keep the peace, "It's like apples and oranges."

"Only if apples are way better, which they are." Raph muttered under his breath.

Raph clearly didn't try hard enough as Donnie confronted him, "So, the truth comes out."

Mikey stood by Donnie, "You think of us as some kind of B-team."

"Good one, Dr. Name-nstein." Raph mocked them, "We'll call you the B-team."

"Thanks." Mikey smiled at the compliment before he got it, "I mean, Hey!"

"There's no shame in it. Look, they've got a B-team too."

" _We'll need backup._ " Captain Ryan said before pointing to two of his officers, " _You two in the shirts, you're coming with us._ "

As the group was beamed down onto the planet's surface, the alien robot immediately honed in on them and vaporized the two officers. Crankshaw saw this and cried in anguish, " _Rodriguez! And… that other guy! They're gone!_ "

Captain Ryan merely shrugged off their losses, " _Well, that's why we bring them along._ "

Hikari, Donnie, and Mikey were not pleased with Leo's halfhearted attempt. Donnie sneered, "Thanks a lot."

"The point is, they had an important function." Leo said without taking his eyes off the TV.

Leo almost squawked when the TV went black, everyone was surprised when they saw the remote in Hikari's hand. She was not amused at all, "You know, I expected this from Raph since he's always got his head stuck up his shell-"

"Hey!" Raph shouted in indignation, not that it didn't stop her.

"-But I didn't expect it from you."

"Well, we are still training." Leo tried to placate her, "Plus, your form still needs a little more stability and power."

Before she could respond, April walked into the room with her head down. The group noticed her sadden look and approached her. Donnie was the one who reached out and asked, "April, what's wrong? Are you OK?"

"I just got mugged by some Purple Dragons." April said, "They stole my phone."

"Don't worry, we'll kick their butts for you."

"Yeah, we'll teach those punks to mess with April O'Neil."

"Guys, it's just a phone." April stopped them, "I'll get another one."

"Come on, what's the point of being a ninja if you can't help your friends when they're getting robbed."

Splinter heard the commotion and came out of his room, "Listen to April, my children. It is best to let this go."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked baffled, "Why shouldn't we go get April's phone back?"

"Besides, we've been dealing with the Kraang nonstop and the Foot are still waiting for their next move. We could use an easy win for once." Hikari argued.

"One cannot predict the consequences of battle." Splinter explained, "Every battle has the potential to stir the hornet's nest. A simple cellphone does not justify this risk."

Raph didn't agree with Splinter and scoffed, "What risk? It's the Purple Dragons. Even those three can beat them."

"Hey!" The three cried out with fire in their eyes.

"Don't worry, Sensei. We'll be careful." With that, Leo led his team out of the lair to the Purple Dragon's hideout. Splinter sighed in dismay at his group of children, he could only pray that April would be a little less unruly than them.

* * *

The group made it to the fortune cookie factory, peeking in to see the members of the Purple Dragon just lounging about. Hikari grinned as she looked to the brothers, "Like I said, easy win."

"I guess we should let you guys three take care of it then, let us know when you need the big guns." Raph smirked.

"Cute." She growled, opening up a panel on the skylight, "Try and keep up."

With that, she dropped down into the building with the others following behind her. They all stayed in the shadows until they got close enough to sneak up on them.

"Turtles?!" Fong cried out in shock.

"Sup?" Raph said nonchalantly.

"Get 'em!" He shouted, unleashing his two minions onto the team.

The Purple Dragon was never a real threat to any of them, but when Leo and Raph started showing off again, it started to get on their nerves. As Mikey was about to knock

"You punks stole a phone that belongs to a friend of ours." Leo stated, "We want it back."

Fong looked away with false bravado, "Whatever. We steal a lot of phones."

"I read in history that thieves were punished by cutting their hands off." Hikari activated her energy blade and started approaching him.

Fong's eyes widen with fear, "Woah, let's not get crazy!"

Leo smirked at Hikari's fear tactic before turning back to Fung, "Trust me, we're being much nicer than we need to be. Now show us the phones."

Reluctantly, Fung led the team to their haul. There were various items they clearly stole from others, some more valuable than others. In the corner was a small pile of electronics, most of the cellphones they probably mugged from all around the city. Donnie, Mikey, and Hikari started looking through the pile until they came across a phone with a familiar case.

"That looks like it." Donnie pointed the phone out.

"Seems right." Hikari reached out to get it, only to pull her hand back as the ground started to tremor.

"Does anyone else feel that?" She asked as the cement next to them started showing cracks.

The Purple Dragon members were getting antsy about the weird earthquake, "What's going on?"

Suddenly, out of the cracks came a group of small odd-looking robots. They screeched as they climbed out of the hole one by one. Leo was stupefied by the sudden intrusion, "What the heck?!"

The screeching robots moved towards the Purple Dragon's loot and started grabbing bit by bit with their metallic jaws. Sid, the big guy, cried out, "Hey! Those things are stealing the stuff we stole!"

"Where's-" Leo looked around before Hikari answered his question.

"Leo, up there!" She pointed to Fong, who was running out April's phone in hand, "He's got the phone!"

Leo pulled out his katanas and ran after the robots, "B-Team! Get him! We'll handle the metal."

"If you guys can't handle it, don't be afraid to call for help." Raph quipped before following Leo with his sais out.

Leo took a few out, pausing when he realized Hikari wasn't with them, "Hikari, come on."

"I'm part of the B-Team, remember? Let's go, guys." Hikari shot back at Leo and Raph before she ran after Fong. Donnie and Mikey, who had a bunch of retorts for their big brothers, dropped it and followed Hikari up and out of the building.

* * *

If Leo was honest, he didn't want to separate with Hikari with their relationship being so new still. But he knew she could take care of herself, besides it was just a simple retrieval mission against the Purple Dragon. He and Raph made quick work of the robots around the Purple Dragon lair before looking down at the giant hole they all came from, "Come on, let's see where those things are coming from."

Leo and Raph leaped down and started walking through the tunnel. He couldn't help but think of the annoyance on her face before they parted ways, Leo knew that Hikari was competitive in her own rights, sometimes it was fun to have a challenge like that but Raph egging her on wasn't helping. "You know, you're making it really hard to stay on her good side." Leo remarked.

"You seem to care more about it than I do." Raph shrugged, "It's not my fault your girlfriend can't keep up with us."

Leo was ready to defend her, but they soon reached the end of the tunnel. Leo snapped back into mission mode and took in their surroundings, "Shh, look."

On the other side of the tunnel was an opening into a large warehouse. More of those robots were walking into the room with stolen goods in their iron jaws and dropping their loot by the feet of their creator, a very smug-looking Baxter Spockman.

"Well done, my pretties." He praised his robotic pets, his eyes gleaming as he watched his riches march into his lair. He was so distracted that he never noticed two new presences until they made themselves known.

"Dexter Spackmen." Raph growled.

"It's Baxter Stockman!" Baxter angrily corrected.

Raph couldn't care less and made that clear, "I was close."

Baxter couldn't stand those self-righteous freaks ever since they stopped his revenge on all who deserved it. He wasn't going to let those turtles and that girl ruin his plans, "So, you're here to stop me again. Well, you're no match for my mousers!"

"Mousers?" Leo asked.

"Mobile Offensive Underground Search Excavate and Retrieval Sentries!" Baxter looked so proud as he explained his acronym.

"Seems a little forced." Leo responded, "How did you even make these things? You couldn't even have a real battle suit until you stole the T-Pod!"

"Did you really think I wasn't going to do my own research once I found that little power source? All that data and analysis helped me figure out to make all of them." He smirked, "Since my test robbery was a success, it's time to move to bigger targets. These are about to make me very, very rich."

"And we're gonna make you very, very hurt." Raph approached Baxter with a twirl of his sais.

Baxter was ready for them, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small spray, aiming at them before releasing a plume of red gas. Leo noticed it and immediately reacted, "Acid! Protect your eyes!"

The two shielded their eyes and started coughing as the red cloud hit them, their coughs and gagging stopped when they didn't feel a thing, no burns or pain. "Wait… We're fine." Raph pointed out.

"You're right." Leo turned his sight on Stockman, "Get 'im!"

"Get me? No, you will be the ones who are getting got… Gotten?" Baxter focused on the battle at hand and commanded his mousers, "Get them!"

With a loud screech, a group of mousers started charging at Leo and Raph. But they worked fast and cleared the room without breaking a sweat. "Ha! All gone." Leo let out a cocky remark.

But Baxter wasn't cowering, he looked just as cocky as the turtles before him. "Good thing I had extras." He smiled as he pushed a button on the remote in his hand. The button opened the gates as an endless batch of mousers were being mass-produced and released.

The two turtles paled as they watched the wave of mousers coming at them, but they stood strong and fought the onslaught head-on. As time went on, their movements became more mindless and instinctual, more focused on slicing and destroying each mouser that came their way. But no matter how many mousers they take out, the number just seemed endless.

Leo noticed this and made a call, "I'm calling it, time to go!"

Raph looked a quick look at the mousers before following him, "I'll allow it."

Stockman laughed as he watched the two turtles run away with his mousers in hot pursuit, "You can't run forever. Soon, the mousers will crush your bones with their jaws. Such is the fate of anyone foolish enough to trifle with Baxter Stock-"

Whatever he was going to say got cut down as a heavy slam hit him on the back of his head and he blacked out. The two Purple Dragon members smirked behind him, picking up the unconscious nerd and hauling him to their leader.

* * *

The two kept running on the rooftops, moving as fast as they could to put as much distance between them and those mousers as they could. After leaping around for over 3 blocks, they had to stop and catch their breath.

"You think we lost them yet?" Raph asked.

Before Leo could answer, they heard a loud screech as a swarm of mousers turned the street corner below them. Leo sighed, "I'd say no."

The constant screeching got louder as more of them started gathering the building beneath them. They had to keep moving again before even more showed up, or worse if any humans woke up from the noise and got caught in the crossfire.

"How are those things tracking us?" Leo asked aloud.

"It's gotta be that stuff he sprayed us with." Raph deduced.

"Alright, we better call Donnie."

"You wanna get bailed out by the B-Team? Forget that!"

"Maybe we won't have to." Leo noticed a small water tank and pulled out one of his katanas, "Whatever this stuff is, we can just wash it off!"

With a well-placed slash, he cut off the metal pipe attached to the water tank. They ran under the water that was pouring out of it. It chilled their skins after running for so long. The dropping temperatures from the end of fall weren't helping either as Raph let out a short cry, "Ahh! Cold!"

Leo wasn't any happier about it, cold-blooded creatures and all that. But he wasn't going to complain about it if it worked, "That oughta do it."

Reality wasn't so kind as they heard a loud screech behind them. They turned around to see that some of the mousers had managed to climb up the building. Leo and Raph were not ready to fight, so Raph backed up a little before saying, "Of course, we could call them just to say hi."

They hopped onto the top of the now-empty water tank as Leo pulled out his T-Phone and called Hikari. Hikari picked up quite quickly, " _Hey, Leo. What's up?_ "

"Nothing! Can't I just call to talk to my girlfriend?" Leo was so anxious about the mousers approaching them that he didn't realize what he called her until he heard her soft giggles.

" _As happy as it makes me to hear you call me that, I know my boyfriend wouldn't call in the middle of a mission just to talk._ " Leo would've melted at the fact that she called him her boyfriend if it wasn't for her knowing tone, " _Don't tell me the A-Team needs our help._ "

"Uh, no. No, of course not. No, we're-we're great. I-I'm just, you know, checking to see if you guys need any help." Leo tried not to wince as he hid the nervousness in his voice.

" _That's sweet, but we've got it under control here._ " He then heard a scuffle on the other side of the line, he'd worried if she sounded distressed instead of annoyed, " _Hey! Give that back!_ "

" _Leo? It's Donnie, we followed Fong to the defunct futon factory on fifth._ "

" _Say that five times fast._ " Leo then heard Mikey speaking in the background

" _Anyway, we've got an awesome plan to get the phone back-_ " Whatever plan Donnie had got cut off as Hikari's voice came back on the line, " _Donnie, give me my phone back! Sorry about that. Anyways, how are things going on your end?_ "

"Uh, you know. Good-ish." Leo felt cold sweat tracing down his face. The mousers had now started attacking the water tower they were on, biting away at the metal legs and supports as they let out a loud screech. Before Leo could swallow his pride, his body acted first and he sputtered a quick excuse, "Whoops, call waiting! Gotta go!"

He quickly put the phone away before turning to Raph in defeat, "You were right. We've got to beat these things on our own if it kills us."

"Uh…" Raph looked down below as Leo realized what he said.

"Okay, bad choice of words." Leo said before the water tower collapsed and the battle began once more.

* * *

Hikari and the others did their best to chase Fong down, but the headstart he got was enough for him to make his way into a building where Dogpound was. The three of them were watching from the skylight as Dogpound dropped his makeshift weights. Mikey shrunk back, "Oh man, we can't take Dogpound on our own. Maybe we should wait for Leo and Raph."

"And tell them we chickened out? Then they'll never stop calling us the B-Team." Donnie responded.

"As much as I'm all about teamwork, Donnie's right. They're not going to really see us as equals if we keep expecting them to help us." Hikari couldn't help but feel annoyed, "Besides, we don't need to take Dogpound down. We just need to find the phone back."

Donnie nodded, "We'll use stealth. With the right plan, we can grab the phone without Dogpound seeing us."

"We could use a diversion." Hikari said helpfully.

With that, Donnie started brainstorming ideas, "How about this? We'll make them think the police are here. We'll need a bullhorn, some flashing lights, and a siren."

"Operation: Cop out!" Mikey said excitedly.

Donnie continued his train of thought as if Mikey didn't say a thing, "Or we can make them think the place is on fire. We'll need a smoke machine, an orange light, and some firefighter jackets."

"Operation: Burn out!"

Hikari winced and gave her opinion, "Donnie, don't you think these ideas are a little much? Where are we even going to get all that stuff?"

Donnie conceded and tried another idea, "What if I'll use my T-phone to hack the CIA computer system, then reroute a satellite over the building and focus its beams to give them all splitting headaches?"

"Operation: Spaced out!"

"That's when you two go in, wearing tinfoil hats to protect yourself-"

Hikari could barely keep herself from rolling her eyes when her T-Phone started ringing. She smiled a little when she saw Leo's picture as she answered the call, "Hey, Leo. What's up?"

" _Nothing's up! Can't I just call to talk to my girlfriend?_ "

Her eyes brightened at his words, not that he could see them. "As happy as it makes me to hear you call me that, I know my boyfriend wouldn't call in the middle of a mission just to talk." That small smile on her face morphed into a playful smirk, "Don't tell me the A-Team needs our help."

" _Uh, no. No, of course not. No, we're- we're great. I-I'm just, you know, checking to see if you guys need any help._ " He was trying to hide it. She thought it was cute that he thought he could hide that nervous tick in his voice when he got like that.

"That's sweet, but we've got it under control here." Hikari would've been happy to continue their little game if Donnie hadn't taken the phone out of her hand. "Hey! Give that back!"

"Leo? It's Donnie, we followed Fong to the defunct futon factory on fifth."

"Say that five times fast." Mikey chuckled.

"Anyway, we've got an awesome plan to get the phone back-" Hikari reached out and pulled her phone back from him, "Donnie, give me my phone back! Sorry about that. Anyways, how are things going on your end?"

" _Uh, you know. Good-ish._ " Before she could ask him anything else, Leo quickly spoke before hanging up on her, " _Whoops, call waiting! Gotta go!_ "

"Well, seems like things are going well on their end." She got back to the matter at hand, "Ok, Donnie, let's not overthink this. Let's just go simple.

Donnie blinked then pondered for a bit, "How about we could find the breaker box and shut off the power? We'll need um, nothing."

"Operation: Blackout. No, lights out. No, power out." Mikey looked like he was ready to pass out from excitement, "This one's too good, I can't handle it!"

While Mikey was getting lost in his mind, Hikari turned to Donnie, "We might be able to pull that one off. I can find and fry the power box, you two can sneak in and-"

Mikey, who was now looking down the skylight, whispered to them, "Uh, you guys might wanna see this."

Hikari and Donnie joined him as they watched the other members of the Purple Dragon dragging something into the room before Dogpound. "Is that Baxter Stockman?" Donnie thought aloud.

"Great, more people to work around." Hikari stood up and scanned the area, "Let's do the breaker box plan, I'll go look for it and short it out. You two can get in and out as quick as you can."

"Good thing I found it then." The two were stunned as they heard and saw Mikey waving at them by the power box.

They soon walk over to him with smiles and Hikari gave him a proud head patting, "Great job Mikey!"

"Ok, let's do this." Donnie grinned.

"B-Team is a go!" Mikey cheered, making the other two look at him deadpanned.

"Don't call us that, Mikey." Donnie sighed as he pulled Mikey back to the skylight and into position.

"Good luck you two." She whispered to them. Once they were ready, she used her energy to fry the power box for the abandoned factory.

Meanwhile, Baxter Stockman was putting in the finishing touches of his code. He was thankful that the crazy dog man who was holding him captive at least got one of those thugs to get his laptop for him. "There, my decryption program is ready." He announced, just as the room was thrown into darkness.

"What's going on?" Dogpound noticed movement around the space before looking down at the table and the now empty spot, "The phone!"

Dogpound growled as he sniffed the air. With his enhanced sense of smell, he located the intruders and pinned them to the ground. The backup generator kicked in and a maniacal smirk formed on his face when he realized who these intruders were.

Mikey looked at Donnie helplessly, "Well that plan didn't work."

"Worked great for me." Dogpound looked to the Purple Dragons, "Get the chains. If these two are here, the others should be around here somewhere."

Hikari started getting worried when she saw light reappearing through the skylight but no signs of the two brothers. She looked down and noticed Dogpound holding their shells down as he commanded the other men in the room to search the area. She bit her lower lip anxiously as she desperately tried to come up with a plan. The thought of calling Leo and Raph for help flashed in her mind before she dismissed it. She was going to save them, and she was going to prove that they didn't need Leo and Raph to complete a mission.

With no time left to second guess herself, she went in with the only plan she had: draw as much attention to herself so they can make it out of the building with the phone and try to lose them in the sewers. She used the same way that Donnie and Mikey snuck into the building before pulling out her uniweapon and calling out to them from the second floor, "Then come get me."

Dogpound looked up and noticed her glaring down at them. Since he was still holding the turtles down, he commanded the Purple Dragons, "Get her!"

Tsu and Fong ran up the stairs to face off against her, but she wasn't worried at all. With her whip, she tripped Tsu and sent him stumbling down the stairs. Fong managed to dodge the rolling mass and attacked her. She stepped aside as the swing hardly came close to her. She toyed with him, moving and countering his attacks as if she was practicing her dancing. Once she riled up his anger, she took advantage of the wide punch he tried and knocked him out. She jumped down, ready to face Dogpound when she felt an awful vibration throughout her body.

The vibration got stronger as she collapsed to her knees, holding her head in her hands, and letting out a silent cry of agony. It was as if her flesh and being were getting torn to shreds, ringing as she felt like she was falling apart.

She panted in exhaustion and looked up to Baxter Stockman looking smugly at her, "I was hoping I'd see you again. I was a little disappointed when you weren't with the other two."

"How are you doing this?" She gritted, trying to ignore how much effort it took to do just that.

He laughed as he showed off a small device he had in his hand, "I learned a lot from that little device you destroyed, especially that special battery and the energy signature within it. Even now, I don't fully understand it. But I did figure out how to nullify it and disrupt it."

She felt the tension fighting against her body left at once when the device was turned off. Facing the exhaustion from all that torture, she had no energy to hold her body up as she hit the concrete floor. She could still hear Donnie and Mikey's panicked cries, "Hikari!"

"Don't worry, I still need her powers to study it after all." Baxter said condescendingly.

What frustrated her more than anything was that she was still conscious throughout it all. Her lethargic body getting picked up and carried over to Donnie and Mikey, who were already chained up against the wall. She felt the shackles on her arms as well, but she couldn't do anything to stop them. Donnie turned to her and asked worryingly, "Hikari, are you OK?"

"I'll be fine. I didn't think anything could be worse than the Kraang though."

Baxter Stockman and Dogpound had stopped bothering about their captives for now, satisfied with their victory. Stockman connected April's phone to his laptop and watched the loading screen crawl, "We'll have access to the phone in about 10 minutes."

"You're wasting your time. There's nothing on it." Donnie spat back.

"It's got a GPS log, doesn't it?" Baxter grinned, while Donnie had a look of horror.

Baxter continued after getting the reaction he was after, "Once I unlock this phone, we'll see every place it's ever been."

Mikey let out a gasp, "The Museum of National History!"

"Or the lair." Hikari mumbled weakly.

"That's even worse!"

Dogpound walked over to them with sadistic glee, "If that phone tells me where Splinter is, I see no reason to keep you alive. If it doesn't tell me, I'll get the answers out of you." He placed a powerful punch right between Mikey and Hikari, "That's what I call a win-win."

The three of them looked at each other nervously, wondering if there was any way they were going to get themselves out of this mess.

* * *

Raph was getting sick of fighting these things. After they chomped through the water tower, he and Leo had been fighting them for what felt like hours. To Leo's credit, he tried to look like he was enjoying himself. "Look, Raph. Mouser Kebabs!" He waved his katanas, showing off the rows of mousers skewered through the blades.

Raph used his sais to throw another couple of mousers off the building, but his arms were aching for a break, "These things… are a cakewalk."

They used the fire escape to get back down to ground level, leading a few mousers to fall to their demise. One of them landed into an open trash can, which gave the two an idea. They used the trash can to catch the few remaining mousers that leaped at them. Just when they thought they'd get a moment of reprieve; they spotted a mouser at the end of the alleyway letting out a loud screech.

They quickly closed the now full trash can and laid it on its side. As a new wave of mousers came at them, they kicked it at the mousers. The heavy trash can rolled down the alleyway with a slight bounce from the force, crushing a few of them while the others dodged it. The remaining bunch leaped at them and continued their attack.

"I can do this _all day_!" Leo grunted.

"Same here!" Raph backed up as he smacked the mousers away from his face. He didn't notice that he walked onto the road until he saw a pair of lights speeding towards him.

"Raph!" Leo cried out as Raph dodged the oncoming truck, barely getting out of the way in time as the truck ran over the mousers on Raph's tail.

"That was so fun…" Raph panted in exhaustion.

Leo ran over to help his brother up when they heard another loud screech and saw more mousers coming at them. "It's almost too much fun…"

With little to no energy left to fight, they had to lose the mousers before they were overwhelmed. But no matter how far they ran or how many turns they made; it was only a matter of time before the mousers found them. Leo had finally had enough of this, "Ok, this is crazy. Maybe we should call-"

Raph cut him off, "We can do this!... I just really wish we had Snowflake's frying powers right now." He looked up at the streetlamp next to them, "I got an idea!"

They hopped up onto the streetlight and waited for the mouser wave to show up. Sure enough, they soon came rushing down from the corner of the street, screeching aggressively the closer they got to the turtles.

"Up here, metalmouths!" Leo shouted, hitting his katana against the lamp.

It did the job and drew the attention of all the mousers in the area to them. One of them jumped onto the pole and started munching down on it. Everything was going according to plan, they nodded at each other as Leo sprung into action. He dropped down from the streetlight and started fighting his way through, drawing a few of the mousers towards him as he made it to a fire hydrant right across the street.

The mousers reacted exactly as they predicted it, attacking the fire hydrant with its metal jaws. The damaged hydrant sprayed water towards the streetlight, lightly flooding the road and dampening the mousers surrounding it.

The mouser that bit the streetlight had done its part too. With the weakened spot, the pole was ready to fall. Raph jumped and used his sai to catch himself on a wire above him. The force from the jump made the streetlight topple, landing right onto the water and the electricity short-circuited every mouser in that area.

Raph dropped down to join Leo and looked over his success, all while catching his breath, "Ha… Told you we didn't need those guys."

Suddenly, they heard noises coming from the other side of the junction. Their fears came true when another mouser was standing there, letting out a loud screech to call its companions. As the new wave of mousers chased after them, Leo had already started running with his brother right behind him, "Oh, come on!"

They made it into an abandoned building and held the door shut. But the pounding on the other side of the door was a constant reminder of how little time they had left. With everything that happened and the situation they were in, Raph finally folded, "Ok, I admit it. I wish the others were here. I'm sure Donnie could find some way to get these things off our tails!"

"AH!" Leo shouted in panic as a mouser has chewed its way through the door.

"Make the call!" Raph screamed. Leo quickly pulled out his T-Phone and called up Donnie right away.

* * *

Hikari was still recovering from that disruption attack, she could feel herself restabilizing again as she tried to come up with any kind of plan to get them out of this mess. Her thoughts were cut off when she heard Donnie's T-Phone ringing.

Donnie glanced at his T-Phone nervously as Dogpound walked towards him. Dogpound reached to his belt and grabbed the ringing phone. He looked over at the other two and noticed similar phones on Mikey's belt and in Hikari's pocket. He grabbed the other phones and made his way back to Stockman, "We'll check these next."

Donnie knew he couldn't let Stockman access them and shouted, "T-Phones, self-destruct!"

The phone stopped ringing as all three phones started sparking and died in Dogpound's hand. He growled in anger as he walked back over to the three with his fists clenched.

* * *

Leo gave up after trying all three numbers for the fifth time, "Mikey and Hikari aren't answering either, something's wrong!"

"I should've known that they needed us to bail- AH!" The door broke down behind them, mousers started pouring into the room. With no other choice, they ran out of the building and heading back up to the rooftops.

Leo used some of the tricks Donnie taught him how to use with his T-Phone and quickly pulled up the GPS for it, "Donnie said they were at futon factory on fifth, let's go!"

They kept running on the rooftops, a new burst of energy coursing through their tired limbs now that they had a goal to reach. They soon arrived on top of the factory, standing where the other three members of the team were before. Unlike them, Leo and Raph forewent stealth and smashed right through the skylight.

A loud shatter and a rain of glass announced their dramatic entrance. Leo and Raph landed in the middle of the warehouse. Dogpound was far from happy about that, "The turtles!"

"Not so fast, Dogpound!" Leo paused when he noticed the other person behind the laptop, "And Dexter Spackmen?"

"Baxter Spockman!" Stockman shouted.

Dogpound let out a low growl before striking at the two intruders. With everything they had been through since their previous encounters with Dogpound, Dogpound's brute strength and size was no match for their speed and agility. Leo timed his jump and leaped over Dogpound with a flip, keeping his eyes set on Stockman. Dogpound, frustrated from Leo's maneuver, didn't notice Raph running at him until it was too late. Raph raised his leg and landed an Axe kick onto Dogpound's face.

While Raph was keeping Dogpound occupied, Leo stopped Stockman, who was reaching for April's phone, with a threatening katana between the phone and his retreating hand. "How did you escape my mousers?!" Baxter Stockman asked as Leo took the phone off the table.

"We didn't." Just as Leo said that, all the mousers that had been chasing them came down the hole on the skylight like a screeching waterfall.

The chaos from the falling mousers all was enough of a distraction that Leo made it over to where the three were chained up and sliced the chains off. Once Donnie and Mikey were free, they went over to check on Hikari, who was still recovering. Leo was about to ask them about her when Raph walked over to them, "We're here to save the day, as usual."

"Oh, yeah. Looks like you guys were doing great." Donnie responded sarcastically.

That ticked Raph off as he waved his hand at the absurd number of mousers that were still piling into the warehouse, "You try fighting off 2,000 robots!"

The mousers started surrounding them again. Leo looked to Hikari and asked, "You think you can destroy all the tech here?"

She pulled out her uniweapon and activated her energy blade, gritting her teeth at the slight strain something this normal to her was causing. She shook her head and answered, "Stockman did something to me, I barely have enough energy for my weapons."

Leo wanted to know more about what happened to his girlfriend but any questions he had were put on hold. They each fought the mousers coming at them, the sea of mousers seemed endless. Dogpound couldn't really make his way towards the team without taking out a few of his own. When Leo noticed Dogpound heading towards them, he turned to Mikey with April's phone in hand. "Mikey, keep away!" He shouted and threw the phone to him.

Mikey grabbed the phone and ran away with it in his own Mikey way. But he got Dogpound off their backs for a while, allowing them to focus on the mousers. Donnie noticed something inside one of the mousers they destroyed and picked it up for a closer inspection, "Whoa! A gamma camera. It detects radioisotopes. That must be what he's tagged you with."

"Oh." Raph responded the same way he did when most nerdy things that came out of Donnie's mouth, "How do we get it off?"

Donnie answered, "You can't. It'll wear off on its own."

"But if someone else got tagged, it'll give off a stronger signal." Hikari added.

Just then, Hikari saw Mikey tumbling down the baloney in an attempt to dodge Dogpound. She immediately rushed to his side and shouted at the others, "I'll help him. Go get the spray!"

Mikey was on the ground with the phone next to him, clearly fallen out of his grip. Dogpound had landed right by Mikey, his hands clamped together and arms raised above his head. Before he could strike down at Mikey, Hikari had deactivated her energy blade and diverted it to change her uniweapon into a Warhammer. With the momentum and her strength, she swung it at Dogpound's head. That attack was enough to disorient him and let Mikey slip away. Hikari stood before him with the hammer in her grasp, "Cheap shot, knocking someone while they're down."

"You've gotten stronger, girl." Dogpound mused as he soothed the ache on his jaw.

"I'm not letting you or Shredder get near my family." Hikari's silver eyes flared with determination. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the phone. She knew he was going to grab it when he overpowered her, so she swung low and aimed at his kneecap.

The hammer did made a sickening cracking noise as it connected to the bone, Dogpound growled in pain as he fell to his knee. Hikari grabbed the phone, but not quick enough to avoid Dogpound's grip on her arm. He pulled her right at face level and snarled, "You'll pay for that."

Hikari knew better than to use force to get herself out. With no other choice, she deactivated her uniweapon and used her energy to overload the phone. The phone sparked and died like the T-Phone did earlier. The small explosion distracted Dogpound, and Hikari twisted her way up and around his arm before pulling it free from his grip.

Now free, Hikari made her way back to the turtles just as Baxter Stockman turned on his device again. Hikari was thrown back into agony as the ripples was destabilizing her energy again. Leo watched in horror as she curled in pain with her mouth letting out silent screams. He felt rage he had only seen from Raph as Stockman walked up to Dogpound with an undeserving amount of confidence, "I'll handle this, dog man. One spritz and they're mouser chow."

Leo threw a few well-aimed ninja stars and all of them hit their mark, three of them hit the isotope spray in Baxter's hand while the rest destroyed the device that was hurting Hikari on the other hand. A cloud of red mist escaped from the can, covering Stockman and Dogpound with the isotope mark.

With a stronger mark to chase, the mousers stopped attacking Leo and Raph. They let out a loud screech and they turned against their master. Dogpound started running once the metal jaws started chewing on his tail, he grabbed Stockman before busting through the wall and disappearing into the night.

Now that the battle was over, Leo rushed over to check on Hikari. She gave him a weak smile, which was all Leo needed to let relief wash over him. He helped her up and over to the others, "Nice job, guys."

"Yeah, from here on out, you're the A…minus team!" Raph declared.

Donnie, Mikey, and Hikari looked at each other and shrugged. "That's probably the best we're gonna get out of him." Donnie said and they left it at that. After a long exhausting night, the team was finally ready to go home and sleep it all off.

* * *

Splinter was kind enough not to say a word as he watched his children drag themselves into their rooms. None of them speaking to each other before turning in for the night. However, he wasn't going to spare them from this lecture after their morning training, "I hope you all see that by choosing your own battles poorly, you created your own crisis."

At this point, the five of them were spending their spare time relaxing in the pit. Mikey and Hikari were dancing, Donnie and Leo were at the pinball machine, while Raph was giving Spike some tender and care. All of them were listening attentively to their sensei's words.

"Yeah, there's definitely some irony there." Donnie agreed.

Leo was quick to jump in, "Okay, it got a little out of control, but we learned our lesson. And at least we got April's phone back."

Just then, April walked into the lair, pleased to hear the news, "You did? Sweet."

The turtles looked at Hikari, who walked over to April and handed her the blackened phone sheepishly, "Uh, yeah… Sorry April, I kinda had to fry the circuits out of this thing."

"The important thing is it didn't end up in the wrong hands." Leo defended her.

"Gee. Thanks, guys." April was not impressed, but she was still grateful they went through the effort.

"Uh, don't worry, April. you can have one of my custom-built T-phones." Donnie pulled out one of his T-Phones for her.

April accepted the T-Phone gratefully, already fawning over her new phone, "Ooh, cool."

"Just don't say, _T-phone, self-destruct_." Mikey said, triggering the self-destruct sequence on the phone. "Or else that happens."

* * *

Baxter Stockman considered himself a very simple man. He had a tough life, but he handled it well. He had a crappy job that treated him unfairly and everyone looked down on him. All he wanted was to fit in… and make lots of money. But he considered himself a simple reasonable man.

So when he was faced with a giant humanoid dog manhandling him like a petulant child, he started wondering where his life went so wrong. He was brought into a church building where he was dropped just as carelessly before the feet of another man. A man covered in metal armor, but his eyes burned with so much hatred and rage that Baxter shrunk away from that gaze.

"Here he is, master." The dog man said.

His master picked Baxter up like he was a ragdoll but looked at him like he was nothing more than a peddle stuck in his shoe, "Baxter Stockman, your interference has cost me Splinter and his disciples. You should pay with your life."

"Fortunately for you, I have use for your skills." As quickly as he threatened Baxter, the man let him go. Baxter dropped onto the ground again as the man spoke, "I have a task for you and my daughter has acquired the parts to help to do it, but first I want to hear more about the device you had that incapacitated the girl."

"Um… The turtles. They destroyed it."

"Then make another one."

"Well… It was quite difficult the first time around." That alone was an understatement, the materials he used to create it were rare, and he wasn't sure if he could finetune it as well if he couldn't find every part he used for his prototype device. But the glare coming from the man told Baxter that it was not the answer he was looking for, "But! I'm sure I can make another one with enough time!"

"Very well. You will start by working on Xever, Bradford will show you to the lab." The dog man behind him growled. Never had Baxter felt so trapped until now. He still couldn't help but wonder where he went wrong in life to find himself here.

* * *

Leo was worried about her after what happened with Stockman. After all, she went into a panic attack when she was hit by that beam. He looked around the lair before finding her training alone in the dojo, "You know it's not smart to work out like that without someone watching over you, right?"

"Gotta improve somehow." She answered without stopping her training.

Leo stepped in front of her, gently holding her wrist and stopping her from pushing herself any harder. Once she actually looked at him, he couldn't stop himself from asking the question that was plaguing his mind, "Hey, are we OK?"

"Of course, why wouldn't we be?" She nodded, a little taken aback by the question.

"Well… I know what I said was harsh and uncalled for-"

She smiled and stopped him from his bout of self-deprecation, "Leo. I'm not going to lie, hearing you dismiss me and your brothers like that really hurt. But we were both too busy trying to one-up you and Raph that we underestimated Dogpound and Stockman and we got ourselves captured."

"I was too stubborn to admit we needed your help to deal with all those mousers."

"I like our competitions, they're fun. But I guess we got carried away this time. I don't want something as petty as that to be the reason one of us got hurt."

Leo's mind was brought back to that moment, where he saw her in pain on the ground, "Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"

"Better now that I've gotten some rest."

He knew that wasn't the whole truth, "What did Stockman do to you?"

"I mentioned before that Lightfuries are beings of energy. Well, like anything, energy can be tampered and disrupted if you know how to do it. My energy is mostly dormant, only active when I use it through by my weapons or when I overload stuff." She let out a nervous chuckle at that, "But it's still what makes me who I am. As similar as my body is to a human's, a human's body cannot transform into a being of solid light and energy. What he did, he triggered something that made it feel like I was being split apart from the inside."

"Makes me happier knowing I destroyed that thing." His hand has drifted from her wrist to her hand, intertwining his finger with hers, "I'm not going to let them hurt you."

"I won't let them hurt you either, any of you." She smiled, her eyes filled with warmth and promise. Her heart started beating faster when she saw the same smile on Leo's face. They may have enemies that want them dead or worse, but she knew they'll be fine as long as they have each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed this chapter. The team is going to have their ups and downs when working as one unit, but they're going to have each other's backs.
> 
> I'm back and I'm still alive, I hate change that happens in my life because that means I won't have time to write more. But I will do my best to keep updating. I love Hikari and her story, and I'm so happy there are a bunch of you guys who love this story too :)
> 
> I would also like to thank all the readers who have shown your support for the story, knowing you guys like this so much gives me the motivation to keep writing it.
> 
> Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation.


	18. I, Monster

Leo looked to Splinter's back before turning back to his team, "Okay, here's the plan. Donnie, you're going to strike first."

"No, wait. You want me to come at Splinter?" Donnie looked at Leo with disbelief, "I'll get pummeled."

"Well, getting pummeled is your specialty." Raph remarked.

Leo ignored Raph's snide remarks and reassured Donnie, "Trust me. It's all part of my plan to catch Splinter off-guard."

Mikey piped in, "Uh, Leo, don't take this the wrong way, but against Splinter, your plans always get our butts whipped."

Leo was not amused, "Okay, new thought. Mikey, you attack."

"He took it the wrong way." Mikey looked to Hikari, clearly displeased.

"Should've trusted him then." She shrugged.

"Enough talk. Let's do this!" Raph stood up, ready to face one of their biggest challenges yet.

Master Splinter had been standing under the tree this whole time, patiently waiting for his students to make their move. He had to stop himself from smiling as they got into position. He could sense every move his sons were making, he was already prepared the moment Michelangelo directed a kick towards his head. He shifted to the side, letting the attack pass by him before grabbing the leg and redirecting Michelangelo towards Hikari.

She dodged the body being hurled towards her by sliding down low, taking advantage of her position to spiral into a sweeping kick. Splinter leaped up, letting her slide past him. Raphael was next, charging towards him while he was avoiding her attack. He shifted himself and propelled himself off his son's shoulders.

Donatello and Leonardo were standing on his sides. After he avoided Raphael's strike, the two of them tried double-teaming against them. He redirected Donatello's attack before blocking Leonardo's. Donatello was already launching another kick at him, just as Raphael was barreling towards him. Splinter examined his options and grabbed the oncoming arm, throwing Donatello in front of him before delivering a swift powerful kick to his abdomen. That kick sent Donatello flying into Raphael, knocking them both back. The two of them landed on Michelangelo who was still on the ground.

Leonardo was now standing next to Hikari, who looked just as tense as he was. Splinter was proud to see how seriously they were taking this. The two of them shared a quick glance before launching into motion. She moved closer into his space, making him believe she was facing him head-on. She went low again, sending her leg up high to kick his chin. He blocked it, and used her leg to drag her around before kicking her in the back. The force was so powerful that she tumbled across the mat and collided with the other three.

That small opening was enough for Leonardo to land a hit on his face. He might have been knocked off his feet if it were for the hesitation that came after the attack. Leonardo immediately pulled back with a look of horror, "Ah! Sensei, I'm sorry. I-"

Leonardo's state of shock spelled the end of the session. Splinter disarmed him easily and threw him onto the mat. The other four seemed tense in the corner, awaiting the beating they were expecting on Leonardo. Instead, he stopped his fist just before it connected.

"Well done, Leonardo." He pulled his son up onto his feet, "But just when you had the advantage, you hesitated, and that made you vulnerable."

"Hai, sensei." Leonardo said humbly.

"Now, that is all for today." He looked to the other four, "Unless you care for a rematch."

"Nuh-uh."

"No, thanks."

"I'm good."

"Yeah, I think we're all set here."

Splinter nodded before leaving for his room, but the thin paper walls did nothing to block out their enthusiastic conversation.

"Leo!" Hikari said with awe, "That was amazing!"

"Not bad." Raphael sounded impressed as well, something he didn't hear often from Raphael when it came to his eldest brother.

"Dude, I can't believe you actually tagged sensei." Donatello seemed to share that enthusiasm, "That was epic."

"The hand that punched Splinter. You know, you can never wash this again." Splinter smiled at Michelangelo's childlike wonder.

"I gotta say, guys, it was all teamwork." Leonardo responded with humility, "We are definitely getting better."

Splinter smiled, his heart warmed by the overheard interaction. His smile dropped when he heard Donatello talking again, "Think we might be catching up to Splinter?"

"Yeah, maybe soon, we won't need him to train us at all." Where he felt warmth and pride, he now felt pain and emptiness. The thought of his son outgrowing him always lingered in the depths of his mind, but now the boys were so big. That future was becoming more and more real, and Splinter wasn't sure he was ready for his sons to grow up yet.

* * *

After that intensive training, the team each went off to do their own things. Hikari decided to meet up with April, who happened to be on a shopping run for her aunt. With arms full of groceries, they walked back to the apartment when Hikari noticed the sullen look on her face, "Hey April, you were thinking pretty hard just now."

"I was thinking about my dad." Her smile on her face barely showed its mark, "This will the first Christmas I spent without him."

"Christmas?"

"It's a holiday where we spend time with our families and the people we care about, we give each other gifts and then stuff our faces with food." She smiled fondly at the memories, "Ever since mom was gone, dad and I always celebrated Christmas together no matter how busy he was. I forgot all about it until I heard my aunt taking plans. I couldn't stop feeling guilty about celebrating without him."

"You're worried about him. I understand." She could relate to April's guilt. Hikari never thought she'd get to be happy again after everything that had happened, but the circumstance of her meeting with the turtles would always leave a painful bout of anguish whenever she thought about it.

Hikari ignored the thought, focusing her attention on April instead, "The Kraang are pretty logical beings. If they've kept him alive for this long, they must have a reason to do so. I don't think they aren't going to do anything to him. We're going to get him back. Could you imagine what it'll be like when you see your dad again, you're on your way to becoming an awesome kunoichi and training to save him, along with the world. I bet he'd be so proud of you."

The two girls walked in silence, comforted by the thought that the other understood their pain. April noticed a rat on the street and stopped, "Aww… Hey there, little fella. Where's your mama?"

Hikari was more amused than anything. The idea that this rat and Master Splinter was so similar was still surreal to her, she once saw a documentary with turtles in it and it was odd to say the least. The discussion that the documentary led to was even weirder.

Suddenly, they felt the ground under their feet tremble ever so lightly. That was enough to alert them to the massive wave of rodents that came around the street corner. "Sorry I asked!" April said in a panicked tone.

The two girls dropped the groceries and started running. More rats were coming from every street corner, slowly surrounding them and any civilians in the area. Hikari looked to the alleyway and pulled April along, "This way!"

They climbed up the fire escape and onto the rooftop. April was still looking down at the rats who had flooded the alleyway they came from. Hikari looked over the rooftops, mapping their escape route. She got April's attention and pulled her to the edge, "I hope you've been practicing your parkour."

That was her only warning before she leaped forth, following a route that she planned which was easy enough for April to do. Eventually, they ran out of rooftops to run on and the rats had started scaling the building. Hikari pulled out her uniweapon and shouted, "Get to someplace safe and call the guys!"

* * *

What started as a normal day went south when Leo and his brothers heard Splinter's yell echo from the dojo. The four of them rushed in to see their father on the ground, just the idea that he was in so much pain was terrifying.

"Sensei, are you alright?"

"I am fine." Splinter mumbled, his head still aching.

"Are you sure you're alright? You don't seem-" Leo was cut off from a weird ringtone with birds chirping.

"Hey, that's April's ringtone." Donnie's response only fueled his brothers' teasing, Raph and Mikey mimicking kissing noises with exaggerated goo-goo eyes. Donnie ignored them and answered her call.

"Hey April- I mean…" Donnie cleared his throat, trying to get that awkward pitch out of his voice into something deeper, "Hey…."

April stopped him before he could continue, " _Donnie, stop talking. I need some help; I'm having a little bit of a pest problem._ "

"What happened?"

" _Hikari and I were walking down Lincoln Avenue and a whole lot of rats started flooding the streets. She's trying to fight them off, but we're getting swamped._ "

"We're on our way." Donnie hung up the call and turned to his brothers, "The girls are in trouble, they're down on Lincoln Avenue."

Splinter put on a strong face as he faced them, "Go help them. I will be fine."

"Take it easy, sensei." Leo said reluctantly, "Let's go!"

The four of them took to the rooftops once more. However, Mikey was more distracted than usual. He was too busy taking in the sights, "Oh wow… The city is so beautiful in the daytime. Except for the, you know, billions the rats."

"Actually, the entire rat population of New York is only about 36 million, which-"

"I will smack you out of your shell!" Raph cut Donnie off with one of his classic threats.

Leo stopped his brother, gulping as he got a good look at the situation, "Uh, guys, we may have a problem."

Just as April described it, there were rats covering the streets. There were humans on cars and whatever they could climb on, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the rats. The four of them soon found April amidst the chaos. She was holding onto a telephone pole, clinging to it as the rats swarmed beneath her.

"Oh, rats." Mikey looked over to Raph with a cheeky grin, "Get it?"

"For the 14th time, **yes**." Raph groaned.

Donnie called out to her, "We're coming, April. Don't go anywhere!"

"Where could I possibly go?" April shot back, arms still holding tight on the pole.

Meanwhile, Leo was scanning the area for a glimpse of hay-blonde hair or sliver eyes, "Where's Hikari?"

Hikari took a moment to catch her breath, she now understood how Raph and Leo felt when they were facing all those mousers. She noticed Leo and the others further down on the other side of the street and pulled out her phone. She could see Leo pick up the phone, "Leo, northwest!"

Leo turned to see her waving from a building on the other side of the road. Leo's shoulders relaxed a little after seeing her, now able to refocus onto the issue at hand. "That pole isn't gonna hold for much longer, we need a plan."

"I've got an idea!" Donnie's bright voice came through the phone, "Hikari, could your whip work with Mikey's kusarigama?"

"What do you have in mind?" Hikari asked, then smiled at Donnie's brilliant plan.

Hikari moved onto the building facing the opposite of the team. Once in position, she activated her whip, pushing as much energy as she could when throwing it out. The whip grew in length as Mikey threw his kusarigama, the two weapons met in the middle and entwined with each other.

"April, grab on!" Donnie shouted to her. April got on her feet the best she could with such little leg room and leaped over, grabbing the dangling line and climbing over to the guys. Suddenly, the phone pole started to tilt, it seemed like the rats at the bottom had did enough damage for the pole to fall over…right where April was!

Hikari acted fast and deactivated her whip, letting April swing over to where the turtles are. April let out a panicked shout as she swung over with Mikey's chain. The pole barely missed her as it toppled down onto the streets. The power cords on the pole made contact with the rats beneath them, sparks and smoke filled the air as the rats stilled.

Hikari blocked it out and ignored it. She moved back, getting a running start as she changed her uniweapon into a staff. She used the staff to vault herself onto the building across. Leo hugged her as soon as he could, both of them taking comfort in each other's embrace.

Now that the team was all together again, they could finally analyze the situation they're in. "Does anyone know what the heck is going on?" April asked.

"I'm not sure. But whatever it is, this attack is extremely well coordinated." Donnie deduced, "Obviously, there is a higher intelligence at work here."

"Well, that rules out Mikey." Raph said offhandedly, much to Mikey's annoyance.

"I'm serious. Someone or something is controlling every rat in the city."

"Wait a sec. Every rat?" Leo paled, "That means that Splinter could be-"

Hikari refused to believe it, "No way, he's not going to let someone control him like that."

Hikari's faith helped Leo ground himself, "You're right. Let's head back to the lair."

(Break

The six of them made it back to the lair, anxious about their Sensei. It didn't help calm their nerves when they saw him comatose on the ground. April looked over to the five, each of them worried about him, "Is he okay?"

The five of them looked at each other before Raph said, "Donnie, you're the smart one. What do we do?"

"Maybe we should poke him." Donnie suggested.

"Good idea." Leo nodded, "Mikey, poke him."

Mikey looked to Leo with horror, "No way, I'm not poking him. You poke him."

"Okay, we'll put it to a vote -"

"Mikey." Everyone but Mikey voted.

"I want a recount." Mikey cried out, then slumping his shoulders when Donnie handed him his bo staff. Mikey snatched it out of Donnie's hand and moved towards his sleeping Sensei, "Fine."

"Easy, easy. Careful not to squeeze the-" Just as Donnie was about to warn him, Mikey squeezed the trigger and the hidden blade sprung out. It barely grazed Splinter's whiskers, they all had cold sweat on their faces at the near-miss.

Donnie snatched the bo staff from Mikey's frozen stature and flipped it around before putting it back in his hand, "Okay, let's try it from the other end."

Mikey inched nervously towards Splinter, using the safe end of the staff to gently poke at him. When it didn't get a response, Mikey started poking a little harder and started messing around, "Whoa, he is totally out of it. Dudes, check out the nose nuggets."

Hikari rolled her eyes as Mikey now putting on a fake Splinter voice, "Michelangelo is awesome. He is the smartest, handsomest, butt-kicking-est of all my-" Splinter's eyes suddenly opened. Mikey flew back onto the ground as he muttered, "ahh! sons…"

Leo went over to help Splinter up to his feet, "Sensei, are you okay?"

"No, Leonardo. I am not." Splinter sighed, "It would appear that your former adversary, Dr. Falco, has returned."

"Falco's behind this?" Hikari asked in shock, "How is that possible?"

"Somehow he has acquired a telepathic connection with every rat in New York." He explained, "And he now calls himself "the Rat King. "

"Oh, great. So now we're letting the bad guys name themselves? We gotta take him down." Mikey said with determination.

"Yes, Michelangelo, you do. The Rat King will not rest until he has total control of this city-" He paused ominously, "and my mind."

The six of them shared a worried look before Leo spoke out, "Sensei?"

"Everything I knew is gone. My wife, my daughter, my clan, even my humanity." Splinter looked at his sons with loving eyes, "You four are all I have left."

"Don't you worry, sensei. We'll stop him." Raph reassured.

"But we gotta find him first." Donnie pointed out.

Splinter did his best to keep a clear head, "When the Rat King attempted to take control of me, I could see into his mind. You will find his lair in an abandoned utility junction beneath Herald square."

Raph nodded, "Let's go play exterminator."

Leo agreed silently, turning to Splinter with concern, "Fight him, sensei."

"I will. Just hurry-" Splinter winced as he continued with his mental battle.

"It's okay, guys." April helped Splinter stay on his feet, "You go after the Rat King. I'll stay with sensei."

The turtles started heading for the Rat King's lair before Leo noticed that Hikari wasn't following her. They shared a look before she answered his unspoken question, "I'm going to stay with Sensei too."

Raph stepped forward, wanting to argue with her about this. But Leo put his arm out to stop him, "We'll be back soon."

* * *

After the turtles left, Splinter went back to his rest. Hikari and April went to the kitchen, wanting to prepare something for Splinter while he saved his strength. Hikari had never been more grateful that she spent time learning how to cook.

While waiting for the water to boil for his tea, Hikari sighed, "In a way, I'm relieved that the guys don't have to see Splinter like this. No one wants to be seen in their most vulnerable moments."

"He's going to be fine, Hikari." April tried consoling her.

"I just lost my family; I can't go through that again so soon. And the guys…I don't think they'd recover if Splinter-"

"Splinter is the strongest person I know. He'll be fine"

"Can I be honest about something? Lately, It's hard to even remember what my dad looked like, I never got to see him much because he was always in combat. But I always remember feeling safe around him, and now I see Splinter every time I think about him."

"They are kind of like your new family, so it makes sense."

"And I love them for that. But I can't help feeling like I'm replacing my dad. Besides, I don't want to overstep my boundaries."

"I'm sure Splinter doesn't mind. He doesn't seem like he'd take just anyone under his wing."

"Same goes for you too then." With that, the two girls went back to the dojo. However, Splinter was no longer lying on the mat where they left him resting.

April got an ominous feeling as she looked around for him, "Master Splinter?"

That was when Splinter sprang an attack on them, it was only their intuition and constant training. Splinter's moves were far too quick to do anything but dive and dodge. "Sensei, it's us!" Hikari cried out, trying to get through to him.

But her pleads landed on deaf ears, and he knocked Hikari out with the hilt of his katana, "The Rat King wants to see you."

April wanted to help her but only to be met with a blade in her face. She was frozen in place, unable to do anything as Splinter picked up Hikari's limb body and disappeared into the sewers.

When Hikari came to, she was bounded with wires. She cursed as she noticed that Splinter was still holding her in a restrictive hold, stopping her from trying anything to free herself. She looked around, only to come face to face with a disturbing sight. The face before her looked bony and dried up like a corpse, it had to be Falco. She kept a brave face and spoke, "What do you want with me? I might not be human, but I'm certainly not one of your rats to control."

"Funny, Splinter here said the same thing." The Rat King chuckled, "I may not be able to see your mind anymore, but I am quite interested in what that brain of yours has to offer. I did notice a secret you hid so deeply in your mind, a kind of weapon perhaps?"

"What makes you think I'd tell you anything?"

Just then, she heard an explosion rock the room. She felt chills going down her spine as the Rat King let out a cunning smile with what little teeth he had left, "We'll see if you can stay silent while I take down every member of your precious team, maybe even that boyfriend of yours."

* * *

"Ah, my turtle friends, we meet again." Leo and his brother turned to face the voice, only to be getting with a creepy, hollow version of the Dr. Falco they last encountered.

"Except last time, Falco, you weren't wearing a sad Halloween costume."

"I am the Rat King!" He screeched angrily.

Mikey rolled his eyes at that, "Lame."

"Sorry, we don't have any treats for you. But we've got a few tricks."

Their threats fell flat as Donnie's weird lovely-dovey ringtone went off, "Way to ruin the moment, Donnie."

"Uh, April, now's not really the best time." Donnie whispered into his phone, then his voice became concerned, "What do you mean, "gone"? Gone where?"

"Here." Splinter said in a mindless tone, Hikari still struggling within his grasp.

"What's wrong with him?"

"It's like his brain is completely turned off."

"You mean like Mikey?" Raph quipped back, surprised when Mikey said the same thing with a deadpan tone.

"Dude, you are so predictable." Mikey smiled smugly at Raph.

Hikari didn't stop struggling as she looked up to Splinter's eyes, "Sensei, snap out of it. They're your sons."

"You waste your words, girl." Splinter's mindless voice responded, "This is where I belong, with my brothers."

"Let them go!" Leo demanded; his katana pointed at the Rat King.

The Rat King laughed at their words, "He is mine now. Looking into his mind revealed so much to me, including how important she is to you. Imagine my delight when I realized that controlling your master would not only make me invincible but would also be the key to your demise."

"Splinter, drop the girl and destroy the turtles." With the Rat King's command, he did as he was told and drew his blade.

"Sensei, don't!"

"Are we really going to do this?" Donnie asked nervously, his palms starting to sweat as he clutched his bo staff.

"Remember, we did beat him once… kind of." Raph answered, seemingly trying to convince himself more than his brothers.

"Yeah, and we can beat him again. We can do this, guys. Do not hesitate." Leo gritted his teeth with determination, "Take Sensei down."

* * *

Hikari struggled against the power cables that coiled tightly around her body, her arms bound to her sides without much room to work with. Although Splinter's insight informed Falco about her Guard and her uniweapon, no one but her knew about the small hidden knives that she had taken to hide in her clothes. She pulled out a knife she had hidden between her belt and her jeans and started cutting the cable.

She was doing it as fast as she could without drawing attention from the Rat King or the dozens of rats in the room, but she still felt like she wasn't moving fast enough as she watched Splinter attacking his own sons.

"Enjoying the show, my dear?" the Rat King asked with an amused tone.

"Testing mutagen on your friend and colleague was sick, but making a father attack his children is just inhumane." She spat back.

"You cling to this idea of humanity, and yet neither you nor they are human. I don't understand why you limit yourself with such pointless concepts."

"I don't expect you to." The moment her arms were free, she threw the knife in her hand at the Rat King. Unfortunately, he saw the knife coming and stepped aside, letting the knife fly by him.

She got out of her wire binds and followed with a barrage of attacks. Her movements were sloppier than usual. Her attacks, fueled by outrage and disgust, were all aimed to take out his life. The Rat King could only laugh at her pathetic attempts, she was no different from Splinter. Pulling the right strings would turn her to nothing more than a simple bloodthirsty creature.

"Splinter, protect your Rat King!"

She had a moment to register what he said before she was desperately fighting for her life. She tried using her knives but he deflected them all without breaking a sweat. Once she ran out of knives, she had no choice but to keep her distance. She couldn't risk getting in range, lest Splinter's cold ruthless blade sliced through her flesh.

Donnie and Mikey appeared by her side, blocking Senpai's attacks while Leo helped her to the other side of the room and checked her for injuries. Once he knew she was fine, he noticed that her pockets were empty, "Where're your weapons?"

"The Rat King probably figured out what they were and had Splinter get rid of them before I woke up." She tightened her fists, feeling so helpless with no weapon to fight with. "How could we win this?"

Leo grabbed all his ninja stars and gave them to her, "Wait for my signal. If Sensei comes after you, don't let him hurt you."

While Leo was with Hikari, Donnie did his best to land a single hit, but Splinter moved so fluently as the staff barely grazed him. It took Splinter two moves, an upwards strike to disarm him and a powerful blow to the gut, to send Donnie flying backward with the breath knocked out of him.

Before Splinter could take another step, a chain sliced through the air. Mikey was a whole mix of emotions right now, despair at the fact they were fighting their Sensei, fear for his family, but the most prominent emotion was anger towards the Rat King for putting them all through this. Mikey sent his kusarigama flying at him, he wasn't going to let Splinter get any closer to Donnie right now.

Splinter shifted away and held his blade up, letting the chain wrap around it instead. Splinter tightened the grip on his katana before swinging the blade forward with all his might. That pulled the chain Mikey was holding, tossing him across the room and slamming him onto the wall on the other side.

Raph tried attacking him from behind, but Splinter sensed him and moved out of his sight. Raph was tense, scanning his surroundings with his sais in hand. That might have been the reason he never noticed Splinter coming down from above. With a front flip, he landed a heavy kick to Raph's head and knocked him onto his shell.

This was when Leo and Hikari got back into the fight. Leo had his katanas out, but reluctant to use them against the man who raised him. With a heartbroken voice, he reached out once more, "Sensei, please… Wait!"

But the Splinter they were facing was a ruthless unstoppable machine. Splinter couldn't step down, so Leo had no other choice but to face off against him. The two ran at each other before clashing metal. The fight between them was so skillful, Hikari would've admired it if it wasn't clearly a cruel game of cat-and-mouse, a man ordered to kill his own son. Splinter had the upper hand when Leo was knocked back on his feet. However, a ninja star soared by him and stopped him from taking another step.

Hikari was on the floor above them, ninja stars in hands as she threw them with precision. She threw them where they needed to be, enough to get his attention without hurting him. She had to resist throwing a few at that cursed Rat King, she knew using anything on him would be wasted with Splinter guarding him.

Splinter turned to deal with her, only to dodge another of Leo's attacks after he got back onto his feet. The two were doing pretty well against him for a while, until Splinter turned the tables on them. Once he spotted an opening, he performed a powerful kick that knocked Leo onto his shell and made him drop his katanas. In that split second, Splinter spun around at threw his own blade at Hikari. She nearly avoided it, the sharp blade cutting into her forearm a little as the blade stuck itself onto the wall and pinned her jacket in place. Had she been any slower, that blade would've pierced through her arm, instead of grazing it.

With no more cover, Splinter was free to pick up one of Leo's katanas and pointed it at him. Splinter's foot on his plastron only added to Leo's fear as he looked up at the eyes he once knew but saw a cloud of red without a hint of fatherly love.

The Rat King was pleased at how well his newest recruit is performing. With a manic grin, he commanded, "Finish him."

Leo had one last move to play. He quickly pulled out the prized portrait that Splinter had treasured and showed it to him, "Remember who you are, Hamato Yoshi."

Hearing his human name made Splinter hesitate, and that was all Leo needed, "Donnie, Raph! Now!"

Donnie and Raph jumped onto Splinter, their combined weight pinning him to the ground. Once Hikari ripped her jacket to free herself, she and Mikey joined the others as they pleaded with open hearts. "Come back to us, Sensei…" She whispered.

"Please. Father, we need you." Leo begged.

"Don't listen to them, brother. Your place is with me." The Rat King pushed his voice into Splinter's head. That reigned him back in, forcing him to throw all five of them off onto the ground. His body was ready to listen to every order, but the fear on their faces… It was what brought him back.

"My place is with my sons!" Splinter shook off the Rat King's control and sent heated glares his way.

"Sensei!" The five of them cried out in relief.

The Rat King was furious and tried to regain control of Splinter's mind, but Splinter was one step ahead. He had already cleared and blocked out his mind, using every ounce of his skill and rage to attack the Rat King. With one powerful blow, he knocked the frail disgrace of a man down. Knowing that he had lost, the Rat King summoned his rats to aid in his escape. His body was covered with a wave of rats scurrying over and carrying him away.

"And that's the last we'll see of Count Rat-ula." Mikey deflated when he was faced with blank stares from his family, "Yeah, all right. It's Rat King. But I'm naming the next one."

As they were leaving, Hikari broke away from the group and leapt back up to the floor above. She returned quickly with Splinter's blade in her hands, looking up to him as she presented it, "And I think this belongs to you, sensei."

* * *

The six of them made it back to the lair, all a little worse for wear but still together and alive. Leo was still fidgeting nervously as he went into the dojo with the others following behind him, "Sensei, are you sure you're okay?"

"I am fine, thanks to you. You did well, my son." Splinter smiled, touched by their concerns.

"Well, you did hesitate, and hesitation leads to vulnerability." Leo pointed out.

"We did pretty good, too, huh?" Mikey smiled.

"Yes. I am proud of you all." Splinter looked over the five of them, each beaming as they celebrated among each other.

"Who knows, maybe one day we'll be even better martial artist than you." Leo said with a cocky smile.

Splinter smirked before grabbing Leo's arm and throwing him into the tree in the middle of the dojo, "Remember my son, everything you know I've shown you. But I have not shown you everything I know."

"It's great to have you back, sensei" Leo grunted in pain. Everyone else laughed as Hikari helped him up, not that she was hiding her amusement either.

* * *

Splinter was drinking his tea when he heard Hikari coming into the dojo. "You wanted to see me, Sensei?" Hikari asked.

"Come in," Splinter stood up and approached her, "You seem distant after we returned from our battle with the Rat King."

"I figured you wanted to spend some time with your sons, especially after everything that happened."

Splinter noticed her careful choice of words and placed his hand on her shoulder, "It is true that my sons are important to me, but they are not the only ones in my life anymore. You and April have accepted me and my sons the way that we are, and you both have become like family to me."

That was enough for her to break down and wrap her arms around his waist, "I was terrified, I thought I was going to-"

Splinter did not expect this reaction, but he comforted her all the same. Although there were no tears shed, he stroked her hair as she hugged him, "It is alright, my child."

He always wondered what Miwa would've been like if she and Teng Shen had not lost their lives that day. But now, he could only hope that they looked down on him kindly with this new family he had found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a tough chapter to write, mainly because I spent a lot of time wondering whether it was the right time to grow the familial relationship between Splinter and Hikari. Hikari sees the turtles as her new family, with Leo as someone more than that. But she had never really told Splinter about how much she now sees him as a father figure, her own insecurities about the whole situation and the fact she was worried she would just be seen as a replacement for Miwa.
> 
> The Rat King was a very interesting villain in the show and they did a good job with him. I figured that he would want to pursue every ounce of knowledge to use to his advantage. So of course, he'd try to get Hikari to spill any alien info he could get his hands on.
> 
> I'm trying to update more than once a month, but times are difficult now. You'd think I would be more motivated to write now that I'm always inside. But I will get the next chapter out as quickly as I can. Because the team is about to meet one of the most annoying people in the world :D
> 
> Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation.


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